Solomon Islands: ADRA Responds to Tsunami ...  After an 8.2 magnitude undersea earthquake in the South Pacific triggered a tsunami that hit the Solomon Islands, leaving some 20 people dead and more than 5,000 homeless, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Australia (ADRA Australia) released funding for emergency relief efforts there.

The tsunami hit the Western Solomon Islands on April 2. An ADRA Australia staff member is in the Solomon Islands on a monitoring trip and is assisting the local ADRA staff in preparing its response. Once their needs assessment is complete and a response plan is in place, ADRA Australia will consider adding to its initial U.S.$10,000 emergency funding.

“The Western Solomons have experienced the worst damage. Gizo’s hospital and airstrip are flooded,” says Pastor Andrew Kingston, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Solomon Islands. “Kukundu has lost its wharf and the school office is also flooded. Some houses have been destroyed.” [ADRA Australia/AMN/ANN Staff]

South Pacific: Discovery Kids Course Goes Online ... The Adventist Discovery Centre’s Bible course for kids is now available online. ‘Let’s Explore’ is a dynamic Bible study series, designed for children aged nine to 13. Of the 10 courses made available on the center’s Web site in the past two years, this is the most recent. The new online ‘Let’s Explore’ course features 15 interactive study guides, says Pastor David Price, associate director for the Adventist Discovery Centre. “It has a dynamic flash animation-based introduction with high-tech music and graphics [with]  brilliant colors.” The lessons also contain Bible references that are already inserted into the web page and the references are hyperlinked to an online Bible program. [Adventist Media Network/ANN Staff]

Australia: Weet-Bix, Weet-Bix Lite Get ‘Gold’ Rating ... Australia’s number one breakfast cereal, Weet-Bix, produced by the Adventist-owned Sanitarium Health Food Company, has gotten a Gold Label rating in the new Australian Healthy Shopping Guide, which lists 1,300 products by type and brand and features foods low in fat, sugar and calories and high in nutrients and fiber. Ranking products in three tiers—Gold, Silver and Bronze—according to their nutritional goodness, Weet-Bix, together with Lite-Bix both were given a Gold rating. Weet-Bix Hi-Bran earned a silver nod of approval in the breakfast cereal category. [Sanitarium/ANN Staff]