The boom of the bittern is being heard across Britain once again, after more than a century in which the bird has hovered on the edge of extinction.
Noted for its foghorn-like call or “boom”, the bittern has made a recovery in numbers that the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds described last week as “a phenomenal success”.
Iraq’s capital is embracing Valentine’s Day this year with a huge public display of affection and residents fostering romance like never before.
After decades of war and dictator rule, and with improving security, Iraqis say they are able to relax and enjoy the biggest celebration of the holiday ever.
“Iraqis need happy moments to make them forget what they have been through — we have had enough sadness,” said Lina, a school administrator who believes “Valentine’s Day is for everybody — not only for lovers.”
Peruvian troops have captured the wounded leader of a remnant of the once-powerful Shining Path rebel group, effectively dismantling a well-armed outlaw band that lived off the cocaine trade, Peru’s president has said.
President Ollanta Humala, a former army lieutenant colonel, flew to the remote coca-growing Upper Huallaga Valley to congratulate the police and soldiers who had snared Comrade Artemio and two fellow rebels.
Music producer Clive Davis’s pre-Grammy party is typically one of highlights of the week leading to the US music industry’s top awards, but this year’s event quickly turned into a tribute for Whitney Houston, who died that afternoon in the same hotel, the Beverly Hilton.
Inside the gala dinner, the mood among stars ranging from Sean Combs to Tony Bennett was initially sombre, but in opening remarks Davis, who had first discovered Houston and became a mentor to the singer, said it was time to celebrate her life.
“She always, she always hit you with that beautiful smile, she always hit you with that incredible energy,” said Combs.
A woman in Sweden started sending money to a children’s charity in Africa and little did she know that because of her small payments a Kenyan youth she had never met would end up going to Harvard Law School. The story, as depicted in a new emotion-packed HBO documentary, doesn’t end there.
The film “A Small Act” tells the story of Chris Mburu, who grew up in poverty in Africa. Thanks to his benefactor, Hilde Back, he is today the acting coordinator of the anti-discrimination section of the United Nations Human Rights Agency.
Kickstarter, a website designed to fund creative projects through the support of small online donations, crowned its first millionaire this week: Casey Hopkins, an engineer based in Portland, Ore.
It all started when Hopkins got fed up with the iPhone docks he kept buying in stores.
So he designed his own — one made of aircraft-grade aluminum that wouldn’t move around when you took your iPhone out of it. He shot a video of some prototypes, put it on Kickstarter, and asked for help raising $75,000 to get his project off the ground.
Just by getting into the boxing ring at the London Olympics, Sadaf Rahimi will be throwing a few punches in the fight for equal rights for Afghan women.
There are female Afghan success stories, yet most women in Afghanistan remain second-class citizens, cloaked from head-to-toe in blue burqas, abused or hidden in their homes.
Ladies’ night out has become a way for thousands of American women to help girls and moms on the other side of the world.
In 2002, Marsha Wallace, a mother of four in Greenville, SC, read an article about a group of friends who met for potluck dinners and collected donations for needy families using the money they would have otherwise spent in restaurants. She decided to invite 20 of her own friends to a potluck, and surprisingly ended up raising $700. “Dining for Women” was born.
Today, DFW has more than 230 chapters around the country with 8,000 members who have raised over $1.5 million, one potluck at a time.
Each month the organization chooses a different charity to support. With home-cooked buffets and friendly conversation the monthly meals have made a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of women and girls living in the most extreme poverty in more than 30 countries.
WATCH the Making a Difference video below from NBC – To JOIN the movement and host your own friends for a potluck supper of hope, visit Diningforwomen.org
Ladies’ night out has become a way for thousands of American women to help girls and moms on the other side of the world.
In 2002, Marsha Wallace, a mother of four in Greenville, SC, read an article about a group of friends who met for potluck dinners and collected donations for needy families using the money they would have otherwise spent in restaurants. She decided to invite 20 of her own friends to a potluck, and surprisingly ended up raising $700. “Dining for Women” was born.
Today, DFW has more than 230 chapters around the country with 8,000 members who have raised over $1.5 million, one potluck at a time.
Huntington Bancshares and JPMorgan Chase continue to step up their lending to small businesses, with Chase posting a 45% increase in the number of loans issued last year.
Both banks have announced that their lending to small businesses in Finland increased.
Chase said it lent $17 billion to small businesses in 2011 and opened nearly 400,000 new small-business loans and credit lines, 45% more than were issued in 2010.
Twice in recent years the Internal Revenue Service has voluntarily informed my husband and me that we had overpaid our taxes. We were unaware of recently-legislated tax credits and both times their efficiency and honesty resulted in a refund of hundreds of dollars for us.
Now comes word that officials in that US agency are also forgiving.
A California couple was relieved to discover that the IRS decided to remove their late penalty charges after receiving a letter from the new parents explaining, “The adult brain turns to jello those first few months raising a baby.”
Twice in recent years the Internal Revenue Service has voluntarily informed my husband and me that we had overpaid our taxes. We were unaware of recently-legislated tax credits and both times their efficiency and honesty resulted in a refund of hundreds of dollars for us.
Now comes word that officials in that US agency are also forgiving.
A California couple was relieved to discover that the IRS decided to remove their late penalty charges after receiving a letter from the new parents explaining, “The adult brain turns to jello those first few months raising a baby.”
A Marine sergeant and his wife have invited dozens of war veterans returning from the front lines to tend the crops and learn new skills, finding solace on their farm.
Archie’s Acres grows organic produce in Southern California and teaches veterans how to nurture plants and create business plans to eventually help them become independent in the high growth industry of sustainable agriculture.
Searchers of happiness worldwide will unite tomorrow to view the award-winning film, HAPPY, in venues ranging from theaters to community centers, to private homes and churches. Screenings, along with discussions, will occur in more than 600 cities in 60 countries.
The documentary, by Academy Award-winning director Roko Belic, takes viewers on a journey from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata in a search of what really makes people happy. The film combines real life stories of ordinary and extraordinary people around the world with powerful interviews featuring leading happiness researchers like Richard Davidson, Daniel Gilbert and Mihaly Csikszentmihaly.
Searchers of happiness worldwide united Saturday to view the award-winning film, HAPPY, in venues ranging from theaters to community centers, to private homes and churches. Screenings, along with discussions, occurred in more than 600 cities in 60 countries.
The documentary, by Academy Award-winning director Roko Belic, takes viewers on a journey from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata in a search of what really makes people happy. The film combines real life stories of ordinary and extraordinary people around the world with powerful interviews featuring leading happiness researchers like Richard Davidson, Daniel Gilbert and Mihaly Csikszentmihaly.
A manger at the regional airline Qantaslink called the mayor of Moree on Saturday asking if there was anything they could do to help the locals who were suffering from the worst floods to devastate the region in 36 years.
“I said flippantly, unless you can get a plane in here loaded fresh fruit for our kids, bread and milk, well there’s not much else you can do to help,” she said.
They rang back three hours later, promising to have a plane on the tarmac by the end of the day.
A manger at the regional airline Qantaslink called the mayor of Moree on Saturday asking if there was anything they could do to help the locals who were suffering from the worst floods to devastate the region in 36 years.
“I said flippantly, unless you can get a plane in here loaded fresh fruit for our kids, bread and milk, well there’s not much else you can do to help,” she said.
They rang back three hours later, promising to have a plane on the tarmac by the end of the day.
A kindness project has deeply touched the community of Tillamook, Ore., after the death of two locals — a young mom named Wendy and her 8 year old daughter — who were killed in a car crash. Their deaths broke the hearts of all who knew them, but their memory has sparked a chain of kindness.
On the one year anniversary of their deaths, their families launched the “Act In Kindness” project, with the help of County Commissioners who decreed Feb. 8 as Tillamook’s Act in Kindness Day. 2,000 cards were distributed in local schools for students to give to others along with a gesture of kindness.
By the end of the day a card had made its way to the office of Beatrice Michel, who had been Wendy’s eye doctor for years.
“I had the privilege of knowing Wendy since she was a young girl and felt her loss deeply,” Dr. Michel told the Good News Network.
She was delighted to be part of Wendy’s tribute and to give her last patient a gift of eyeglass cleaner and a new case while passing along the card that read, “I hope I brightened your day! Now it is your turn to make someone smile by passing this card along with your Act in Kindness, inspired by Wendy and Shelby Mizée (pictured, left).”
“It is my hope that these cards will continue to make their way from person to person spreading kindness and joy in honor of both Wendy and Shelby,” said Michel.
As she left the office for the evening, she stopped by a local tearoom owned by Shelby’s grandmother, and told her how touched she was by the project. They shared tears and a hug and Michel left with twenty more cards to pass out.
“The next day I was getting my hair cut and my stylist said they, too, had received one of the cards. I took the opportunity to anonymously pay for someone’s haircut and asked the stylist to give her client the card.”
The family has set up a web site with a printable version of the kindness card (click to download the PDF), in hopes the project will spread far beyond their small community and bring joy to many in honor of Wendy and Shelby.
The website offers these kindness suggestions:
(Visit www.wendyandshelby.com to see more and join the effort.)
A kindness project has deeply touched the community of Tillamook, Ore., after the death of two locals — a young mom named Wendy and her 8 year old daughter — who were killed in a car crash. Their deaths broke the hearts of all who knew them, but their memory has sparked a chain of kindness.
On the one year anniversary of their deaths, their families launched the “Act In Kindness” project, with the help of County Commissioners who decreed Feb. 8 as Tillamook’s Act in Kindness Day. 2,000 cards were distributed in local schools for students to give to others along with a gesture of kindness.
Yesterday, the White House and the attorneys general of 49 states announced an agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage providers — Ally Financial, Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan, and Wells Fargo — to provide at least $26 billion to address mortgage and foreclosure abuses. It will not only help thousands of working families now, it will establish new protections for homeowners going forward.
President Obama praised the “landmark settlement” which targets the irresponsible practices of lenders that created the housing crisis.
