• EU TACKLES MOBILE TV : The EU is to attempt to develop a uniform blueprint for Europe while Mobile TV is still in an early stage. Mobile TV - the transmission of audiovisual content to a mobile device - has the potential to change profoundly the way people experience television and audiovisual services. It offers the possibility of viewing any content, any time, anywhere, and also provides for interactivity, where services can be tailored to the needs and tastes of each consumer.
  
  Mobile TV - most commonly on a mobile phone - is at the crossroads of two social trends, greater mobility and new forms of accessing media content. It is likely to become one of the next high-growth consumer technologies.
  
  
• EUROPEAN UNION CALLS FOR MORE TRANSPARENCY ON LOBBYING: 
  
  MEPs have voted in favour of a mandatory public register of Lobbyists. Lobbyists would need to register only once to have access to Parliament, the Commission and the Council.  MEPs suggested that the three institutions set up a joint working group without delay, to prepare a proposal on the common register by the end of 2008. According to the resolution, Lobbyists will have to abide by a code of conduct. A mechanism will be provided for expelling those who infringe the rules. 
   
  MEPs also suggested that the mandatory register should include "full financial disclosure " by lobbyists.  Professional consultancies and law firms in particular would have to disclose the relative weight of their major clients and the costs associated with lobbying. MEPs defined a lobbyist as anyone "influencing the policy formulation and decision-making processes of the European institutions".
  
  SNIPPETS READERS NOTE: "FEB SUPPORTS THESE PROPOSALS FOR TRANSPARENCY IN LOBBYING!"
  
  

• FRANCE: A new digital radio project - known as "EVE "-  is being planned by Alain Bonset in France - where there is currently no Evangelical Radio Network. The Project hopes to get the licence for Christian Radio in the first 19 French cities to go digital - which will cover 32% of the population. Starting a national, Christian and commercial station is a major project. EVE is currently inviting investors to build the Network and Studio and recruit a qualified Team to run it. Visit www.eveinfrance.com 
  
   

• POLAND: CCM Poland have applied for a licence for a new transmitter in the town of Rybnik, and they now have the funds to go ahead with implementing the "Looking for God" and "Why Jesus" projects in Polish. Visit www.radioccm.pl 
  
  

• UK: BBC RADIO - RECORD NUMBERS : Radio listeners are tuning to the BBC in record numbers. The Corporation has just recorded its best listening figures - well ahead of commercial Radio. Radio 2 is Britain's favourite station with a total weekly reach of 13.63 million listeners.
  
  

• UK - FREESAT: The BBC and ITV have launched a Satellite TV service "Freesat" that allows viewers to receive HD TV pictures without a subscription. However, people still need to spend up to £200 (US$400) buying an HD-ready set-top digital box and installing a satellite dish. Freesat will open up digital channels to 98% of the UK. ITV Chairman Michael Grade said, "The launch of Freesat is the final piece in the digital jigsaw and will ensure that all viewers in the UK have access to free-to-air digital and High Definition television."
  
  

• TURKEY: Turk-7, 3xM's partner in Turkey, recently put some of its programmes on YouTube, making them accessible to Turkish viewers.
  Visit www.youtube.com/turk7com
  
  

• SPAIN : Evangelical Broadcaster, Cesar Vidal, has had his contract on COPE Radio renewed. Vidal is well known for his books and his current affairs programme on COPE - a station owned by the Roman Catholic Episcopate. Vidal's programme has been consistently at or near the top of audience ranking figures, with 679,000 registered listeners in the most recent survey, helping COPE become the second most popular radio station in Spain. Fellow Theologian Jose de Segovia said: "What many of us most value about Cesar is that he is a follower of Jesus and a brother in the faith."Source: AC Press
  
  

• UK: MPs have voted to scrap laws forcing clinics to consider the need for a "father and mother " before allowing women to seek IVF treatment, despite pleas from some senior MPs from all Parties, the Archbishop of York and Christian pressure groups. Critics accuse the Labour Government of a systematic attempt to undermine traditional family roles.
  

AFRICA

• ASSOCIATION OF CHRISTIAN BROADCASTERS: Dave Hotchkiss, General Manager, ACB Southern Africa, has published an Article on Christian Broadcasting in South Africa. There are now 11 Christian Radio Stations in six major urban centres, three rural Stations covering parts of the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, and several Christian satellite TV channels covering the whole country. Email Dave Hotchkiss on aesa@africanenterprise.org.za
  
  

• INSPIRATION NETWORK INTERNATIONAL: An agreement has been reached with MultiChoice Africa to launch INI on satellite Eutelsat W4; Channel 350. Bill Airy, Chief Operating Officer, said, "Our goal is to be culturally relevant, and not duplicate our domestic networks." Airy said that the content is particularly prepared for viewers in Africa, with programmes from more than 20 African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana and Zambia. Previously, INI was only available in northern Africa. Visit www.ini.tv 
   

• SUDAN: Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) reports that when heavy flooding makes it impossible for their planes to land in remote areas of Sudan, they can now arrange for real-time medical advice using a live satellite phone connection. Charity Lanman, a missionary nurse, runs a primary health-care centre a hundred miles from Darfur – and a two-day cycle ride from the nearest hospital at Aweil."Without the MAF flights, we are totally isolated." she says. "We had no contact with a qualified doctor – but the Satellite Phone allows us to get expert medical advice."   Visit www.maf-uk.org 
  
  

• SOUTH AFRICA : A strategic partnership between TWR-South Africa and Mentorlink provides training on Biblical mentoring principles for Radio personnel. 23 Pastors have already been trained. Radio will help promote the process through 30 minute broadcasts that communicate the vision and practice of Biblical mentoring, using teaching, dramatisation, call-in programmes and discussions. Visit www.twrafrica.org

ASIA