I would strongly advise using cron jobs or scheduled tasks for this purpose. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cron.
You could use AJAX and let the client side poll your server every X second. But you might describe your problem at a more detailed level...
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.