Beckhams a 'bad example' for families

People have assumed that it's just because it was my shirt number that I wore for many years… but that wasn't the main reason," Beckham said on his Facebook page.

Beckham said he and Victoria believed seven was a lucky number.

"It symbolises spiritual perfection, seven wonders of the world, seven colours of the rainbow and in many cultures around the world, it's regarded as a lucky number," he said.

The soccer player said they were also inspired by Victoria's favourite book, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Population debate has often been overshadowed by what is seen as the disastrous and often inhumane experiment by China, with its notorious one-child policy, and with sensitivity about being seen to criticise birthrates in underdeveloped countries. But campaigners point to the fact that it is the populations of the developed world who use the vast majority of the world's resources.

Lucas said the Green party was not afraid to raise the subject because it was "fundamental" to wellbeing. "The lesson to be learned from China is surely that efforts to curb population growth in a way that restricts individual liberty are dangerous and come at huge human cost," she said. "Policies that focus on increasing access to birth control for all who want it, reducing poverty and inequality, improving food security and tackling environmental degradation are where we should be focusing our attention.

"At its heart, this is a debate about poverty and inequality, as well as about sustainability – and we believe that strong policies to reduce the yawning gulf between rich and poor should underpin every effort to address it.

"I don't believe that government incentives or laws to that effect are what we need. As a richer country, we face different challenges when it comes to population than those in the developing world, where high birth rates are linked to dire poverty and inequality. It's an equally important issue for both richer and poorer nations – this is a global debate which affects us all.

Googie Withers dies in Australia aged 94

Googie Withers, who died on July 15 aged 94, was a leading lady of British stage and screen in the 1940s and 1950s, with a famously long 62-year marriage to the Australian actor John McCallum, her regular co-star in 10 popular films of the time.

Through talent and determination, she succeeded in carving out a varied career despite a name that seemed forever to consign her to light comedy roles. Born in Karachi, she was given the nickname Googie by her Indian nanny and it stuck. A Hindi word, it meant (according to who was telling) "dove" or "crazy". Subscribers to the latter view held that it reflected her antic behaviour as a child.

As an actress it undeniably held her back. In the inter-war years, the influential critic James Agate missed no opportunity to upbraid her for it. How could she hope to be taken seriously as an actress, he thundered, with such a name? For many years he was right. The studios dyed her hair blonde and typecast her as maids or dolly birds, with supporting roles in George Formby and Tommy Trinder farces.

The actress stood firm. She had used the name for a long time and it had brought her luck. Why abandon it? Ginger Rogers, after all, was proof that an actress could have a nursery name and still win an Oscar (for Kitty Foyle in 1940).

She was the first non-Australian to be awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Her last role was in the Oscar-nominated 1996 Australian movie Shine.

Withers's family moved back to Britain from India and she began acting at age 12.

She had been given her nickname Googie by her Indian nanny.

She was working as a dancer in a West End production in London when she was offered work in 1935 as a film extra in The Girl in the Crowd.

Withers, who had three children, appeared in dozens of films in the 1930s and 40s.

She played Blanche in 1938's The Lady Vanishes, opposite Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave.

Later in her career she appeared in several television productions, including prison drama Within These Walls on ITV and the BBC's Hotel du Lac and Northanger Abbey.

In 1958, Withers moved to Australia with her husband, Australian actor John McCallum - he helped create the classic television series, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.

The couple co-starred in 10 films, and they lived together in Sydney until McCallum died last year at the age of 91.

Googie Withers

Georgette Lizette "Googie" Withers CBE, 12 March 1917 – 15 July 2011 was an English theatre, film and television actress who was long a resident of Australia with her husband, the actor John McCallum, with whom she often appeared.

Biography

Withers was born in Karachi—then part of British India—to an English sailor and a Dutch mother. She was named "Googie" by her Sindhi nanny, a name she would go on to retain for the rest of her life. As a child, she learned Urdu and began acting at the age of twelve. A student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, she was a dancer in a West End production when she was offered work as a film extra in Michael Powell's The Girl in the Crowd (1935). She arrived on the set to find one of the major players in the production had been dismissed, and she was immediately asked to step into the role.

During the 1930s she was constantly in demand in lead roles in minor films and supporting roles in more prestigious productions. Her best known work of the period was as one of Margaret Lockwood's friends in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938). Among her successes of the 1940s was the Powell and Pressburger film One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942), a topical World War II drama in which she played a resistance fighter who helps British airmen return to safety from behind enemy lines. She is well remembered for her role as the devious Helen Nosseross in Night and the City (1950), a classic film noir.

While filming The Loves of Joanna Godden (1947), she met her co-star, the Australian actor John McCallum, and they were married on 24 January the following year. They remained married until McCallum's death on 3 February 2010.

She first toured Australia in the stage play Simon and Laura. When McCallum was offered the position running J.C. Williamson Theatres, they moved to Australia. Withers starred in a number of stage plays, including Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea, Desire of the Moth, The First 400 Years (with Keith Michell), Beekman Place (for which she also designed the set), The Kingfisher, Stardust, and Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and Wilde's An Ideal Husband for the Melbourne Theatre Company; both productions toured Australia. They appeared together in the UK in The School for Scandal at the Duke of York's Theatre in Londons West End and on the subsequent British Council tour of Europe in 1983–4 and in W. Somerset Maugham's The Circle at the Chichester Festival Theatre.

Googie Withers starred on Broadway with Michael Redgrave in The Complaisant Lover and in London with Alec Guinness in Exit the King. During the 1970s, Withers appeared as prison governor Faye Boswell in the television series Within These Walls. (She was so well known from Within These Walls that she was asked to play the role of the Governor of the Wentworth Detention Centre in Prisoner, a job which she declined.)

In 2004, Withers came back into the news when a character on the ITV soap Coronation Street, Norris Cole, quipped that "Googie Withers would turn in her grave". Granada Television was forced to apologise a week later when they realised that she was very much alive.

In October 2007, aged 90 and 89 respectively, she and John McCallum appeared in an extended interview with Peter Thompson on ABC TV's Talking Heads program.

McCallum died in 2010. Googie Withers died on 15 July 2011 at her Sydney home, aged 94.

Honour

Withers was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2002.

Family

Googie Withers and John McCallum were the parents of three children, actress Joanna McCallum, art director Nicholas and Amanda.

Filmography

Windfall (1935)

The Girl in the Crowd (1935)

The Love Test (1935)

All at Sea (1935)

Dark World (1935)

King of Hearts (1936)

Accused (1936)

Her Last Affaire (1936)

She Knew What She Wanted (1936)

Crown vs. Stevens (1936)

Crime Over London (1936)

Pearls Bring Tears (1937)

Action for Slander (1937)

Paradise for Two (1937)

If I Were Boss (1938)

You're the Doctor (1938)

Kate Plus Ten (1938)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Paid in Error (1938)

Strange Boarders (1938)

Convict 99 (1938)

The Gang's All Here (1939)

Murder in Soho (1939)

Dead Men are Dangerous (1939)

Trouble Brewing (1939)

She Couldn't Say No (1939)

Busman's Honeymoon (1940)

Bulldog Sees It Through (1940)

Jeannie (1941)

Back-Room Boy (1942)

One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942)

The Silver Fleet (1943)

On Approval (1944)

They Came to a City (1945)

Dead of Night (1945)

Pink String and Sealing Wax (1945)

The Loves of Joanna Godden (1947)

It Always Rains on Sunday (1947)

Miranda (1948)

Traveller's Joy (1949)

Once Upon a Dream (1949)

Night and the City (1950)

White Corridors (1951)

The Magic Box (1951)

Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951)

Derby Day (1952)

Devil on Horseback (1954)

Port of Escape (1956)

Nickel Queen (1971)

Within These Walls (TV series, 1974–1978)

Time After Time (1986)

Country Life (1994)

Shine (1996)

End of an era for 'Potter' fans

Final instalment in the film series of JK Rowling’s best-selling books, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two, is already breaking box office records across the Atlantic and is set to do the same in the UK.

Vue cinema in Cardiff’s City Centre experienced some of its busiest days yet since the film’s release on Friday, with the five screens sold-out.

Marketing manager Andrew Millar said that the cinema marked the release of the final schoolboy wizard movie with a double-bill that included a midnight showing of the new movie.

He said: “We had people in the cinema for about six hours, these were the fans that have followed the whole series from the beginning, so they’re not teenagers anymore. They are a similar crowd to Twilight.

“But at all the other showings we’ve had a broad spectrum of ages, we’ve had in school groups, families, teenagers.

Think we are going to be busy for at least another five or six weeks with Harry Potter, because as well as the die-hard fans, there are the people who want to see it, who don’t want to be in a packed out cinema.

For the college-bound teens who crowded the theaters this weekend, Harry Potter has been the erstwhile friend they grew up with. The fact that the film's cast grew up in real time made fans connect with J.K. Rowling's novels all the more.

Josh Robinson, 18, who stood in line at the Chino Hills Harkins Theatres for 15 hours to see the midnight show, read the first Harry Potter book when he was just 4. Robinson's mother had purchased the book on a trip to England, a year before it was published in the United States.

"I'm not sure if I understood it all, but I thought it was real," Robinson said.

"So you thought once you turned 11, you'd get a letter?" asked his friend Katelynn Richmond, 18

"Yeah, I thought that was a possibility," Robinson said.

For Robinson, Harry Potter was like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Except Robinson never grew out of Harry Potter.

Global effort needed to prevent catastrophe

Tens of thousands of people are fleeing drought and famine in Somalia in search of food and water in refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.

The crisis has been brought on by a deadly combination of severe drought, with no rain in the region for two years, a huge spike in food prices and a brutal civil war in Somalia, where it is too dangerous for aid workers to operate.

Somalians are walking as far as 50 miles to reach the Dadaab complex in eastern Kenya, the largest refugee camp in the world. The trek can take weeks through punishing terrain, which is desolate except for the carcasses that litter the land.

A mother of six was forced to decide today whether to leave behind her daughter, who is simply too sick to travel, in order to save the rest of her family. Suffering from malnutrition, her daughter isn't strong enough to continue with their 30-day, 50-mile journey from Somalia into neighboring Kenya.

UNICEF has just airlifted five tonnes of food and medicine to children in Baidoa in southern Somalia.

The delivery is the first since the Islamist militant group Al Shabaab, which controls most of Somalia, agreed to let foreign relief agencies into the area.

UNICEF representative to Somalia, Rozanne Chorlton, is adamant no payments were made to Al Shabaab to let the aid through.

"We've been asked occasionally in different places but then we've explained what we do and they did not pursue the claims," she said.

An estimated 400,000 people are now in the overcrowded Dadaab refugee camp in neighbouring Kenya and thousands more are crossing each day into the country and into Ethiopia.

Speaking at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, UK aid secretary Andrew Mitchell said the situation is getting worse.

"Well there is no question this is an extremely grave crisis. The real question is whether the international community, by putting its shoulder to the wheel, can stop it turning into a catastrophe," he said.

"These levels of malnutrition we're seeing, particularly among children and mothers with very young children, [are] almost unprecedented.

First-generation of Clean Energy

First-generation technologies are most competitive in locations with abundant resources. Their future use depends on the exploration of the available resource potential, particularly in developing countries, and on overcoming challenges related to the environment and social acceptance.

International Energy Agency, RENEWABLES IN GLOBAL ENERGY SUPPLY, An IEA Fact Sheet

Among sources of renewable energy, hydroelectric plants have the advantages of being long-lived—many existing plants have operated for more than 100 years. Also, hydroelectric plants are clean and have few emissions. Criticisms directed at large-scale hydroelectric plants include: dislocation of people living where the reservoirs are planned, and release of significant amounts of carbon dioxide during construction and flooding of the reservoir.

However, it has been found that high emissions are associated only with shallow reservoirs in warm (tropical) locales. Generally speaking, hydroelectric plants produce much lower life-cycle emissions than other types of generation. Hydroelectric power, which underwent extensive development during growth of electrification in the 19th and 20th centuries, is experiencing resurgence of development in the 21st century.

MaThe areas of greatest hydroelectric growth are the booming economies of Asia. China is the development leader; however, other Asian nations are installing hydropower at a rapid pace. This growth is driven by much increased energy costs—especially for imported energy—and widespread desires for more domestically produced, clean, renewable, and economical generation.

Geothermal power plants can operate 24 hours per day, providing base-load capacity, and the world potential capacity for geothermal power generation is estimated at 85 GW over the next 30 years. However, geothermal power is accessible only in limited areas of the world, including the United States, Central America, Indonesia, East Africa and the Philippines. The costs of geothermal energy have dropped substantially from the systems built in the 1970s. Geothermal heat generation can be competitive in many countries producing geothermal power, or in other regions where the resource is of a lower temperature. Enhanced geothermal system (EGS) technology does not require natural convective hydrothermal resources, so it can be used in areas that were previously unsuitable for geothermal power, if the resource is very large. EGS is currently under research at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Biomass briquettes are increasingly being used in the developing world as an alternative to charcoal. The technique involves the conversion of almost any plant matter into compressed briquettes that typically have about 70% the calorific value of charcoal. There are relatively few examples of large scale briquette production. One exception is in North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where forest clearance for charcoal production is considered to be the biggest threat to Mountain Gorilla habitat. The staff of Virunga National Park have successfully trained and equipped over 3500 people to produce biomass briquettes, thereby replacing charcoal produced illegally inside the national park, and creating significant employment for people living in extreme poverty in conflict affected areas.

Clean Energy

Sustainable energy is the provision of energy that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Sustainable energy sources are most often regarded as including all renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectricity, solar energy, wind energy, wave power, geothermal energy, bioenergy, and tidal power. It usually also includes technologies that improve energy efficiency.

Renewable energy technologies are essential contributors to sustainable energy as they generally contribute to world energy security, reducing dependence on fossil fuel resources,[citation needed] and providing opportunities for mitigating greenhouse gases. The International Energy Agency states that:

Conceptually, one can define three generations of renewables technologies, reaching back more than 100 years .

First-generation technologies emerged from the industrial revolution at the end of the 19th century and include hydropower, biomass combustion, and geothermal power and heat. Some of these technologies are still in widespread use.

Second-generation technologies include solar heating and cooling, wind power, modern forms of bioenergy, and solar photovoltaics. These are now entering markets as a result of research, development and demonstration (RD&D) investments since the 1980s. 

The initial investment was prompted by energy security concerns linked to the oil crises (1973 and 1979) of the 1970s but the continuing appeal of these renewables is due, at least in part, to environmental benefits. Many of the technologies reflect significant advancements in materials.

Third-generation technologies are still under development and include advanced biomass gasification, biorefinery technologies, concentrating solar thermal power, hot dry rock geothermal energy, and ocean energy. Advances in nanotechnology may also play a major role.

—International Energy Agency, RENEWABLES IN GLOBAL ENERGY SUPPLY, An IEA Fact Sheet

First- and second-generation technologies have entered the markets, and third-generation technologies heavily depend on long term research and development commitments, where the public sector has a role to play.

A 2008 comprehensive cost-benefit analysis review of energy solutions in the context of global warming and other issues ranked wind power combined with battery electric vehicles (BEV) as the most efficient, followed by concentrated solar power, geothermal power, tidal power, photovoltaic, wave power, coal capture and storage, nuclear energy, and finally biofuels.

Definitions

Energy efficiency and renewable energy are said to be the twin pillars of sustainable energy. Some ways in which sustainable energy has been defined are:

"Effectively, the provision of energy such that it meets the needs of the future without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. ...Sustainable Energy has two key components: renewable energy and energy efficiency." – Renewable Energy and Efficiency Partnership (British)

"Dynamic harmony between equitable availability of energy-intensive goods and services to all people and the preservation of the earth for future generations." And, "the solution will lie in finding sustainable energy sources and more efficient means of converting and utilizing energy." – Sustainable energy by J. W. Tester, et al, from MIT Press.

"Any energy generation, efficiency & conservation source where: Resources are available to enable massive scaling to become a significant portion of energy generation, long term, preferably 100 years.." – Invest, a green technology non-profit organization.

"Energy which is replenishable within a human lifetime and causes no long-term damage to the environment." – Jamaica Sustainable Development Network

This sets sustainable energy apart from other renewable energy terminology such as alternative energy and green energy, by focusing on the ability of an energy source to continue providing energy. Sustainable energy can produce some pollution of the environment, as long as it is not sufficient to prohibit heavy use of the source for an indefinite amount of time. Sustainable energy is also distinct from Low-carbon energy, which is sustainable only in the sense that it does not add to the CO2 in the atmosphere.

Green Energy is energy that can be extracted, generated, and/or consumed without any significant negative impact to the environment. The planet has a natural capability to recover which means pollution that does not go beyond that capability can still be termed green.

Green power is a subset of renewable energy and represents those renewable energy resources and technologies that provide the highest environmental benefit. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines green power as electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources. Customers often buy green power for avoided environmental impacts and its greenhouse gas reduction benefits.

Clean Energy Future plan

Under the government's carbon pricing plan announced on Sunday, more than half of the emissions abatement to 2020 will come from companies buying it from overseas, at an estimated cost of $3 billion, with the remainder coming from Australian carbon farming and other initiatives.

A new body called the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) will determine companies' carbon price liabilities and operate the national register of emissions units, and work alongside the Climate Change Authority headed by former Reserve Bank chief Bernie Fraser.

Already more than 30 Australian-based brokers and companies, such as the Commonwealth Bank and Origin Energy Electricity, are registered with the CER.

While a carbon price will provide incentives to reduce energy consumption, manufacturing businesses will be supported in identifying and implementing technologies that improve energy efficiency and reduce their exposure to changing electricity prices.

The $1.2 billion Clean Technology Program aims to provide support for manufacturers through three components:

CLEAN TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT PROGRAM

If you're a manufacturer, the $800 million Clean Technology Investment Program will provide grants to allow you to invest in energy efficient equipment and low-pollution technologies, processes and products.

CLEAN TECHNOLOGY - FOOD AND FOUNDRIES INVESTMENT PROGRAM

If you're in the food processing, metal forging and foundry industries, special assistance grants will be provided to help you invest in energy efficient equipment and low-pollution technologies, processes and products. It's anticipated that the grants will be worth up to $150 million over six years to the food processing industry and up to $50 million over six years to the metal forging and foundry industries.

CLEAN TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION PROGRAM

To support business investment in research and development (R&D) in the areas of renewable energy, low-pollution technology and energy efficiency, an additional $200 million of grants will be provided over five years. This will be in addition to the R&D Tax Concession.

n April 2010, AFP deputy commissioner for national security, Peter Drennan, said carbon trading "may in time provide opportunities for organised criminal syndicates to exploit new markets and engage in fraudulent activity".

An AFP spokesman told AAP this week the final design of the scheme's governance was still being developed by the climate change department.

"The AFP has commonwealth responsibilities in relation to the investigation of serious fraud in government programs and in addressing organised crime," the spokesman said.

"It is too early to speculate on any potential criminal risks or the size and impact of any obligations for the AFP.

"However, the AFP will work closely with the relevant agencies ... to address identified risks, enhance the scheme's overall integrity, and manage any law enforcement resourcing impacts."

GreenCollar chief Schultz said carbon trading was becoming like buying any other commodity, but some companies will find that investing in Australian-based abatement projects, such as forests and farms that cut their use of fertilisers, is better than looking overseas.

"Some product is cheaper than others and some has a higher or lower risk profile than others," he said.

"There is significant upside for companies that are able to invest directly into the primary market - companies that create credit, create the project itself as opposed to buying on the secondary market, which is cheaper but has a higher risk."

Schultz said the public could trust the auditing system as "these are the same people who tell you ships won't sink and planes won't fall out of the sky".

"The same level of audit is brought to this, and in fact it is more rigorous," he said.

The public concern was driven largely because in many cases "you are trading something that didn't happen", Schultz says.

"Most of what you are trading is an avoided emission. You are trading something that didn't happen, like stopping deforestation. It's not planting trees but has a great impact," he said.

"By not chopping down a forest that is however many millions of tonnes of CO2 that goes into the atmosphere and that compensates another activity.