This regular bulletin has sought to find stories, whether good news or bad, about civilian life in Afghanistan, away from the fighting. It's the flipside of the media mantra 'if it bleeds, it leads'. It's compiled by Elayne Jude of Great North News Services

USAID offered a 90-day "trial" contract, with a possible extension, for someone to take "timely, attractive visual images" of USAID projects in Afghanistan for their public relations work.

The copy ran: "In Afghanistan, negative images flood both social and conventional media with little counter. This makes fresh, regularly updated photographs of USAID work . . . critical for effective social media messaging."

"Professional-quality" shots were sought for their Afghanistan public outreach program, including the website, Facebook page, Twitter feed and Flickr photograph feed. USAID are seeking to correct a public image of their work which is is negative or misleading.

USAID stated that "news photographs by their very nature focus on the negative." They felt "unable to compete . . . because of lack of skill and security limitations." .

One of the qualifications listed was an ability to do "unlimited travel in country." (as the State Department warns US citizens against inessential travel - see page 2).

After inquiries by the Washington Post, a USAID spokesman e-mailed the newspaper to say the announcement "was to help inform Afghans" about the agency's projects but that it "did not appropriately articulate that purpose and is being reevaluated." It no longer appears on the agency's website.

Afghan News Roundup compiled by Elayne Jude for Great North News Service

Kajaki Dam resurfaces, Arab upset, Karzai's accusations, candidates in the clear and a first for Kabul's police, as reported in other countries

Millions more for Kajaki Dam

In February 2007, the Kajakai Dam was fought over by NATO and the Taliban as part of Operation Kryptonite. The governor of Helmand province, Assadullah Wafa, reported over 700 insurgents (including Pakistanis, Chechens and Uzbeks) coming via Pakistan to fight 300 NATO troops, mostly Dutch and British.

In October 2011, Coalition forces launched an operation to root out the Taliban and connect the notorious Kajaki Dam with the rest of province. This would allow the belated installation of a third turbine, providing electricity for tens of thousands.

Now another, possibly last ditch, effort has been launched to complete the project, which began in 2002 and has cost an estimated $500 million. Afghanistan's power utility, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), under the guidance of USAID, has launched a contract competition to pick the company to install the third turbine. The two-phase project will likely cost about $75 million, and won't be completed until 2015.

Afghan News Roundup Compiled by Elayne Jude for Great North News Service

Red Bull, Red Tape, Salang Redux, Girls on Film, Women in the Ring and in Special Forces - away from combat, change is in the Afghan air.