David Fitzherbert, 52, was skiing off-trail in Switzerland when the snow gave way and he fell 70 feet into a crevasse. The only thing that saved him from plunging a further 700 feet was the BlackBerry phone in his pocket which became wedged between the sides. It kept him stuck there for two hours until he was rescued by climbers.
Remarkably, the Blackberry still worked afterward.
On the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia, next year’s crop of bicycles is being watered by Benjamin Banda.
“We planted this bamboo last year,” he says, “and now the stems are taller than me. When it’s ready we’ll cut it, cure it and then turn it into frames.”
Mr Banda, is the caretaker for Zambikes, a company set up by two Californians and two Zambians which aimed to build bikes tough enough to handle the local terrain.
Co-founder Vaughn Spethmann, 24, recalls how it all started with a game of football.
In a historic judgement Thursday, India’s high court decriminalized homosexuality striking down a 150-year colonial ban against gay sex between consenting adults for violating fundamental rights protected by the constitution.
“The inclusiveness that Indian society traditionally displayed, literally in every aspect of life, is manifest in recognizing a role in society for everyone,” said Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justice S. Murlidhar.
“Oppressive laws such as Section 377 drive people underground, making it much harder to reach them with HIV prevention, treatment and care services,” UN AIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé said. “On top of violating individuals’ human rights, the prohibition of homosexuality in over 80 countries impedes the response to HIV, hampering treatment to access for people living with the disease, according to UNAIDS.”
Enrollment is up for Jewish and Arab students attending the Hand-in-Hand bilingual school in Jerusalem. Kids study together learning the language of friendship and goodwill with two teachers guiding each class in both Hebrew and Arabic.
Despite being in the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, these kids know nothing of ethnic hatred.
Watch the Common Ground video below, or on YouTube.
A South Carolina city has something to be proud of this week:
Two men braved a burning car to save a stranger seconds before the car exploded into an inferno because, they said, they couldn’t live with themselves if they hadn’t acted.
“I just couldn’t stand by and watch while someone burned to death,” said Jason Whittle, 36, a city of Columbia traffic safety officer.
Michael Samuels, 37, saw sparks near the car. “She was in the car with power lines on top of it and people were shouting, ‘Don’t touch the car! Don’t touch the car!’ But somebody had to get that woman out. My heart told me to go.”
“Within a minute after Whittle and a civilian, Michael Samuels, pulled the woman from the car, it exploded,” reports The State.
–File photo courtesy of Sun Star
Two boyhood friends who know what it’s like to struggle in lower income families, together made it through medical school and now, 60 years later, they’ve come together again to provide free medical care to their community.
They coax companies into giving them free supplies or drugs to ease the burden.
Watch the Making a Difference video below, or at NBC website .
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will taste a slice of home on July 4th after the delivery of 28,000 pizzas from UNO Chicago Grill.
The pies were shipped from JFK Airport in special containers to arrive fresh on battlefield thanks to the nonprofit organization Pizzas 4 Patriots, founded bytretired Master Sgt. Mark Evans.
Evans calls it a world record pizza party, which will serve almost 90,000 soldiers. DHL Express is delivering the entire load in a 747 aircraft for free — including 30,000 cases of beer.
AT&T joined the party sending along free calling cards so the troops can call home.
A sculptural peace project displays the flag of every nation in the world rendered entirely in white.
Aaron Fein began the project in the year after 9/11 as he observed how all the U.S.A. bumper stickers on cars were fading. Such an enduring symbol, he thought, the nation’s flag to which we all turned for comfort, was poignantly subject to change just like the Twin Towers.
The project, White Flags, has grown slowly in the intervening years towards the ultimate goal – the completion of all 192 flags of the United Nations – to stand as a symbol of world unity.
Aaron had been content with the project’s slow growth until this spring, when he met Barb Pemberton, whose sister lost her life in the attack on the World Trade Center.
In a major break with most large companies, Wal-Mart Inc. Tuesday told the White House that it supports requiring employers to provide health insurance to workers.
Support of the nation’s largest private employer could give momentum to one of the most-contentious aspects of proposed health care legislation — government mandates that would force all but small employers to provide insurance for workers or help pay for it.
(Read more in the Wall Street Journal)
Police in the Netherlands have arrested two men after the alleged muggers were identified on a picture taken at the crime scene by Google’s internet map service.
On a lark, the young tech-saavy teen who was mugged searched for the exact location of the scene using Google’s street photos and actually saw the pair (with their faces blurred out) walking along in the image.
He went to the police who requested from Google the original unblurred photo…
A woman who inherited some Chinese carved jade from her father has scored the first $1 million appraisal from experts on the Public Television show “Antiques Roadshow,” the producers said on Monday.
Four pieces from the Chien Lung Dynasty (1736-1795), including a large bowl crafted for the Emperor, were given a conservative auction estimate of up to $1.07 million.
The popular U.S. TV show, on the government/viewer supported PBS network, invites people to bring in their “treasures” from home to be scrutinized by antique specialists who reveal the item’s true value after exploring the item’s history with the guests.
Malawi, which launched a free AIDS drug program five years ago with 5,000 initial beneficiaries, is now supplying 250,000 HIV positive citizens with the life-saving treatments.
President Mutharika had more exciting news on Sunday. Malawi is beginning an effort to establish a local company to produce these anti-retroviral drugs locally, enough to even export to neighboring countries.
Listening to the right kind of music can slow the heart and lower blood pressure, a study has revealed.
Rousing operatic music, like Puccini’s Nessun Dorma, full of crescendos and diminuendos is best and could help stroke rehabilitation, say the authors.
Groups like Music in Hospitals, a UK-based charity that provides live music to hospitals, hospices and care facilities, can make a big impact on people’s wellness.
In June, Microsoft launched “Browser for the Better,” and vowed to donate the equivalent of eight meals to the Feeding America Network of food pantries for every completed download of Internet Explorer 8.
The program will last through Aug. 8, 2009.
(Read the press release at Feeding America)
Watching the Lakers win the national basketball title recently, I began to count the ways that Phil Jackson is a model for youth coaches everywhere, and how we can all learn to live better lives by following his example:
1) He builds others’ self-confidence -Trevor Ariza, who came up big in the playoffs, said he knew he wasn’t going to get pulled from the game if he missed a shot, which fueled his confidence to keep playing hard. Jackson’s players don’t tighten up in the clutch, worried about what will happen if they miss. They play to win, not to avoid looking bad. Players don’t do that if they are worrying about their coach giving up on them.
2) He develops players as leaders – Michael Jordan never won a title until Phil showed him how to make his teammates better. And now even those who called Kobe Bryant the most selfish player in the NBA, can see how Bryant has grown under Phil as a leader who makes his teammates better.
At 17-years-old, Calif. native Johnny Strange is the youngest person ever to conquer the tallest summits on each of the seven continents.
After topping the final peak last week, Strange e-mailed family and friends to say: “Never let anyone stifle your dreams no matter the feat, for if you have the heart and the courage, impossible is nothing.”
He shouts another message from the mountaintops as well. A sign he carried to the Mt. Everest peak read, “Stop Genocide.”
Watch the Katie Couric interview at CBS.
“She’s earning her sainthood one slice at a time…”
LeeAnn Camut organized a pizza party at St. John’s Hospice for nearly 350 homeless men. The now-annual pizza affair is much anticipated.
“I wanted to feed their souls and not just their bodies,” she said. “I wanted to make them feel special.”
An 8-week-old kitten discovered abandoned and famished in a mailbox was adopted by a postal worker, and his wife who named it: P.D., for “Postage Due.”
“My husband’s cat died suddenly over a year ago, and it’s been only recently that he’s indicated that he might be ready to adopt another cat,” Stuart said.
(Read the details on Boston..com)
(Thanks to Pearl for submitting the story on June 22!)
Most cell phones currently rely on different chargers, causing mountains of electronic waste. Major cell phone manufacturers today agreed to introduce a universal adaptor within six months in Europe.
Industry leaders, including Apple, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, have struck a deal to introduce a one-size-fits-all charger by January 1, 2010, making all handsets compatible with a micro-USB plug already standard on handsets such BlackBerrys.
Iranian singing sensation Andy Madadian went into an LA recording studio last week to record a musical message with Jon Bon Jovi symbolizing worldwide solidarity with Iranian demonstrators: “Whenever you’re in trouble won’t you Stand By Me”.
The recording wasn’t meant to climb the Billboard charts. It’s not even for sale. The classic tune, by Ben E. King, is solely intended to be downloaded and shared by the Iranian people…to give voice to the sentiment that all people of the world stand together.
The handwritten Farsi sign (right) translates to “we are one”.
Watch the video… and download the song for free on www.MyDamnChannel.com
