Russia’s military has announced it will halt its plans to deploy short-range missiles in its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad, bordering Poland. A Russian military official said a change in US attitude with the new administration had prompted the latest decision, Interfax reports. (BBC News)
CEO Shuns Private Jets, Armani Suits and Excessive Pay (Video)
Instead of buying corporate jets and paying himself millions as CEO, the Japan Airlines’ chief, Haruka Nishimatsu, puts his money and time into his relationship with employees. Anyone can walk into his office at anytime, which demonstrates that his philosophy is about building a cohesive team as their leader, but acting as their partner.
(Read full text at CBSNews, or watch the video report below, w/ 30-second ad)
Heroic Man Rescues 3-year-old from Burning Mobile Home
Awakened by his barking dogs about 2 a.m., Jamie Sheetz looked out his window to see a neighbor’s mobile home engulfed in flames. Dressed only in shorts, he sprinted across the lawn, smashed through a window of the burning home, grabbed the child from his bedroom and carried him back out the window to safety.
Fire officials say the boy was moments away from being overcome by flames, with “literally, seconds” to spare.
Like almost every hero, he said he was only doing what anyone would have done, “I did what a man’s supposed to do.” (LancasterOnline.com)
Inmates Train Security Dogs and Feel Common Bond (Video)
Happiness comes to both the incarcerated and the canines that are being trained to sniff bombs at several prisons in Fla. and Georgia. Officials say the dogs get excellent training from the female inmates, and the women experience more responsibility and less depression.
Who would imagine that prison could look so positive and joyful! (Video may take a minute to load)
Obama to Washington: Snow Wimps! (Video)
In a humorous moment, President Obama paused to gently needle Washington for all but coming to a halt after a dusting of snow and ice. He says his kids laughed too, saying school would never be cancelled back home in Chicago, and the seven-year-old commented that they would even be marched out for recess! (Video may take a moment to load)
Cows with Names Produce More Milk
In a study involving 516 dairy farmers in the UK, researchers found that treating the animals as individuals increased production. The cows with names had an average higher milk yield of more than a gallon of extra milk every week.
Dr Douglas, from the School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development at Newcastle University, said: “Just as people respond better to the personal touch, cows also feel happier and more relaxed if they are given a bit more one-to-one attention. (UK Telegraph)
Obama Extends Hand To Arabs and Muslims
In his first formal interview as president, Barack Obama sat down with an Arab television station to offer a welcoming message to the Muslim world. He first expressed his interest in reaching out to Muslims as president, and pursuing a different approach to foreign policy than his predecessor, in his inaugural address — the only inaugural speech ever to mention the subject.
“My job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives,” President Obama told Al Arabiya. “My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy.”
(Photo from Al Arabiya, Obama with news team Yamen Abdal Wahab, Nate McCray, Hisham Melhem and Muna Shikaki)
In the interview, conducted in the White House map room, President Obama also expressed his commitment to tackling the Middle East peace process immediately.
“Sending George Mitchell to the Middle East is fulfilling my campaign promise that we’re not going to wait until the end of my administration to deal with Palestinian and Israeli peace, we’re going to start now,” he said. “It may take a long time to do, but we’re going to do it now.”
The interview is part of the President’s broader outreach to the Muslim world, which includes a promise to make a major address from the capital of a Muslim nation.
Al Arabiya is a 24-hour Arabic-language news channel based out of Dubai.
UNICEF Provides Educational Supplies for Children in Gaza
With the return of hundreds of thousands of children to school in Gaza, UNICEF is providing essential educational equipment and materials to re-establish learning and recreational activities, create safe environments, and help restore a sense of normalcy for children in Gaza.
This week a UNICEF Representative, Patricia McPhillips, visited Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, where two UNICEF tents are serving as temporary learning spaces for girls, whose school was completely destroyed. The girls are attending classes during the afternoon shift. Four additional tents will be set up in the coming days to accommodate additional students.
China to Subsidize Purchases of Clean-energy Cars for Cities
China’s central government will subsidize purchases of clean-energy vehicles for public fleets in 13 cities to help the automobile industry develop green technology. The trial program will promote the use of electric, hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles by public transport operators, taxi firms and postal and sanitary services in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, Xinhua quoted a finance ministry statement as saying late on Monday. (Full report at Reuters)
Colorado Breaks U.S. Milestone In Race with Obama-like Leadership
Perhaps no leader in American life feels the historical significance of Barack Obama’s inauguration and his political imperatives more than Terrance Carroll, who two weeks ago became the first African-American elected Speaker of the House in Colorado.
The historic vote of confidence by his colleagues for 39-year-old Carroll makes Colorado the first state in the union where both legislative leaders are African-American, following the election last year of Sen. Peter Groff as the first African-American to lead the senate. The Colorado legislature has only two black members. And now they are the two most powerful members of the 100-person body.
“I was awestruck,” Rep. Carroll told the Good News Network from his office last Tuesday, several hours after President Obama took the oath of office. “Not only by the speech, but to see people shoulder to shoulder so energized and enthused by Barack Obama and by his message of hope and renewal.”
Terrance Carroll grew up in a housing project in D.C.. He knows what a mother’s sacrifice can do to propel a minority kid all the way to the statehouse in Colorado, governing a population that is made up of only 4% African-Americans.
Saving Soles Through Foot Clinic for Homeless (Video)
Every Monday afternoon, Rev. Bob Book transforms his Atlanta church into a spa for the homeless. He and volunteers wash and scrub the feet of the city’s homeless, mirroring the service of Jesus Christ while encouraging good health and providing some relaxation time.
Millionaire Leaves Business to Create Sanctuary for Doomed Cats (Video)
One man has made it his mission to create a Shangri-La for unwanted and troubled cats. As Richard Schlesinger reports, sometimes animals with the worst of problems can bring out the best in people. And, following your passion can lead to 550 animal adoptions, 150 of those, for special needs cats.
Husband’s Kiss Woke ‘Sleeping Beauty Wife’ in Coma
After two weeks sitting by his wife’s bedside hoping she would wake from a coma, Andrew Ray was at his wits’ end. Doctors had told him Emma could become a real-life sleeping beauty when she failed to regain consciousness after a heart attack.
The distraught father of two played her tapes of their baby son crying and their daughter shouting ‘wake up Mummy!’.
Finally, in desperation, he leant over her hospital bed and pleaded: ‘Emma, if you can hear me, please just give me a kiss.’ (UK Daily Mail)
On Australia Day, Cities Celebrate Going Green
For some of Australia’s best-known cities, companies and organizations, this year’s Australia Day will be celebrated, not only with barbecues or beach parties, but also by going ‘green.’
The Australian cities of Sydney and Brisbane last week stepped up their efforts in lowering carbon emissions by joining the United Nations’ Climate Neutral Network (CN Net) , led by the UN Environment Program, which seeks to spur global action to achieve climate neutrality.
With its world-famous Opera House, the “Coathanger” Bridge and the Harbour as its backdrop, Sydney is one of the world’s most spectacular cities. In 2007, Sydney, the largest in the country, became Australia’s first carbon neutral local government, implementing such initiatives as energy-efficient street lighting and creating a network of bicycle paths.
Is Meditation a Superpower?
Discover the superpower that success coach John Assaraf, author of the recent best seller, The Answer, says every person desires: The Greatest Superpower in the World.
If you haven’t heard of John Assaraf, he is a famous personal development and business coach featured in the movie, “The Secret.”
This video is the first in a whole series of FREE videos that will help you to be ALL YOU CAN BE in 2009. Today is the first day of the group’s debut, called The Masters Gathering. Sign up with your name and email address to receive notices when the rest of the videos, called transformative conversations, are released. The Masters Gathering hopes to help everyone to reach their dreams through ongoing personal help and interactive discussion (begins on the page after you sign up)… This is an invitation to “take your place among the masters”.
WARNING: The opening titles of this video may be annoying or, even, cheesy, but don’t let that, or the brief introduction by someone named Jamie, turn you around. The actual content by Mr. Asarraf is worth checking out!
Teen Pulls Toddler from Burning Home
The Houston fire department said they plan to nominate the entire Preciado family for a neighborhood hero award after they charged into a burning building to save a toddler trapped by flames. For putting another’s safety ahead of their own, the family is being hailed as heroes, especially the 16 year-old boy who kicked in the window and found the 1 year-old. (KHOU.com has video, story and photos)
Satellite Launched to Provide Pictures of Greenhouse Gases
Efforts to tackle global warming received a boost today with the successful launch of a Japanese satellite, the first to monitor greenhouse gases from space.
The Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite “IBUKI” (or “GOSAT” in its English-language acronym) is the first satellite to observe greenhouse gases and monitor changes in the effects they cause. It was launched from the island of Tanegashima, in southern Japan, by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), a key partner in addressing disaster risk reduction and environmental issues for the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
Mexico City to Turn Green with New Recycling Plan
A newly formed Waste Commission in Mexico City is working to build four state-of-the-art processing centers in the next four years to recycle, compost or burn for energy 85 percent of Mexico City’s trash – compared with about six percent recycled today. If it works, it would put this sprawling, polluted metropolis in a league with San Francisco, The Netherlands and other top recyclers, and first among developing cities, where the recycling rates mostly hover around 10 percent. (Full story from Associated Press)
Self-Repairing Paint for Cars
Scratches in a car’s finish are inevitable, no matter how one tries to be careful. That’s why car lovers will clamor for this new innovation by Dutch scientists at TNO Research.
Hudson River Pilot Gets Hero’s Welcome in Hometown (Video)
The pilot who safely landed a US Airways jetliner in the Hudson River was given a hero’s homecoming in the San Francisco suburb he calls home. He made a short statement saying, “We were simply doing what we were trained to do.” (Video may take a moment to load)