EXCERPTS from the Good News e-Bulletin, December 23, 2005
The father of a Palestinian boy shot dead by Israeli soldiers donated
the boy's organs to Israelis awaiting transplants. (Thank you
Shahin!) Ismail Khatib's son Ahmed, 12, was shot Thursday in Jenin.
Soldiers said he carried a toy rifle and they mistook him for a
militant. He died Saturday, and Israeli doctors transplanted his
kidneys, liver, lungs and heart to Jews, Arabs and a Druse, ranging
from a 7 month-old baby to a 58 year-old woman. Ismail Khatib said he
hoped the organ donations would send a message of peace to both
Israelis and Palestinians. Adapted from LA Times, November 10, 2005
Venezuela youths transformed by music
The National System of Venezuelan Youth and Children's Orchestras,
called El Sistema by its members, is celebrating 30 years of making
classical musicians out of half-a-million young Venezuelans and
transforming their lives while gaining international reputation. The
program's social mission is helping "the fight of a poor and
abandoned child against everything that opposes his full realisation
as a human being". It has brought the sounds of Beethoven in barrios
by giving many underprivileged and at-risk youths instruments,
scholarships and free transportation. Adapted from BBC 28 November
2005
India and Pakistan have opened a third crossing point on the Kashmir
border to provide aid for survivors of October's earthquake.
Postponed to allow for the construction of a foot bridge, the
crossing is currently open only to relief supplies. Later, the
crossing will be open to civilians. The frontier was drawn after the
1948 war between the neighboring countries. They have fought three
wars since independence from Britain in 1947. They struck a deal last
month to open five points. Adapted from BBC 12 November 2005
Gesture from Venezuela Heats the Bronx
In a gesture combining generosity and high theater, officials from an
American subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company announced
yesterday from a chilly corner of the Mount Hope neighborhood that
they would sell heating fuel at a 40 percent discount to 75 apartment
buildings in the Bronx, benefiting 8,000 low-income residents.
Adapted from
www.truthout.org
Bill Gates Fights to End Malaria
The world's richest man, Bill Gates, believes it is possible to
completely wipe out malaria that kills thousands every day, including
2,000 kids. He pledged $258.3 million recently for the development of
new drugs, a vaccine and better protection against mosquitoes.
November 05, 2005
Macedonia, formerly part of Yugoslavia, is becoming the first wireless
country
A project funded by the US Agency for International Development
(USAID) has brought broadband internet access to hundreds of remote
villages in Macedonia by putting the country's 460 primary and
secondary schools online. In Macedonia, where the spectre of a civil
war that was narrowly avoided still remains, there is faith that the
internet might ease community tensions Adapted from BBC 11 November
2005
Liberia Elects Africa's First Woman President
Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-educated economist and 67-year-old
grandmother, a former World Bank economist and veteran politician, is
nicknamed "The Iron Lady", but has promised to show a new, softer
side as president. The election was organized and its security
guaranteed by a UN peacekeeping force. Adapted from
www.truthout.org
Michelle Bachelet remains favourite to win Chile's presidency next
month and become the first professional female politician to lead a
major Latin American country. Ms Bachelet is undoubtedly a breaker of
moulds and a symbol of national reconciliation. She is a divorced
mother of three in a largely Roman Catholic country. She was detained
and tortured after the 1973 military coup led by Augusto Pinochet,
yet rose to become defence minister when democracy was restored.
Adapted from The Guardian December 14, 2005
'Unification Baby' Seen as Omen by N. Koreans
The South Korean baby is the first born in the North. Her birth Oct.
10 has been hailed as a mystical sign that the half-century-long
division of the Korean peninsula is coming to an end. The mother was
more than eight months pregnant when she traveled to North Korea. The
parents named the baby Kyoreh, meaning "One People." Adapted from LA
Times November 20, 2005
Koreas Hold Reunions for Divided Families
440 South Koreans traveled today to the North's Diamond Mountain
resort for a three-day reunion - the 12th since the Koreas agreed to
promote peace and reconciliation after an unprecedented summit
between their leaders in 2000. So far, more than 10,000 Koreans have
been reunited. Millions of Korean families remain separated
following the division of the Korean Peninsula in 1945 and the
1950-53 Korean War. There is no direct mail, telephone or other
communication between ordinary citizens across the border. Adapted
from AP November 06, 2005
Ninety-five United Methodist Bishops repent their "complicity" in the
"unjust and immoral" invasion and occupation of Iraq. Too many of us
were silent," said a statement of conscience signed by more than half
of the 164 retired and active United Methodist bishops worldwide.
This is the first time that individual Methodist bishops have
confessed to a personal failure to publicly challenge the buildup to
the war. President Bush is a member of the United Methodist Church,
according to various biographies. Adapted from FOX News November 11,
2005
Indian barbers offer AIDS advice and free condoms with haircut The
"Barbers Intervention Project" is being implemented in 20 states and
territories of India. More than 10,000 barbers are involved to
promote safe sex, spread the message of prevention against HIV/Aids,
and offer free condoms to their customers. Adapted from BBC 13
December 2005
WHO: Polio spread finally halted across Africa
After hard-line Islamic clerics in Nigeria led the 2003 immunization
boycott (claiming the polio vaccine was part of a U.S.-led plot to
render Nigeria's Muslims infertile or infect them with AIDS), the
Nigerian polio strain spread to 15 African countries plus Yemen and
Indonesia. Vaccination programs restarted in Nigeria in July 2004
after the 11-month boycott. But the delay effectively set global
eradication efforts back at least a year. Now, this polio epidemic
has been successfully stopped and polio has been stamped out in 10 of
the 18 previously polio-free countries: Benin; Burkina Faso;
Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Ghana; Guinea; Ivory Coast;
Mali and Togo. The coordinator of WHO's global polio eradication
program said: "The world can be polio-free in another 12 to 18 months
everywhere, and the poorest countries in the world are committed to
turning this around." Adapted from CNN/AP November 10, 2005
Hundreds of sea turtles rescued in Brazil from a turtle smuggling
ring in the Amazonian jungle. Trafficking sea turtles is a serious
crime in Brazil which can lead to large fines. Adapted from BBC 3
December 2005
Now that the Puget Sound orcas are listed under the Endangered
Species Act, steps to protect them will help humans as well. Human
health should benefit from increased protection from oil spills and
further restrictions on chemical and sewage discharges into the
Sound. 13 December 2005
www.truthout.org/
Scientists Discover Moon Orbiting So-Called 10th Planet
The astronomers who discovered the 10th planet (named Xena) in the
solar system have made another intriguing announcement: it has a moon
( which they nicknamed Gabrielle after Xena's faithful sidekick in
the TV series) October 1, 2905
NASA discovers interstellar 'chocolate'. The discovery of
nitrogen-carrying aromatic hydrocarbons (one type is the main
ingredient in chocolate) throughout the universe has profound
significance for the occurrence of organic life in space. Prior to
their recent discovery in space, scientists had thought these
biologically important molecules, key ingredients in the primordial
chemical soup from which scientists think organic life may have
arisen, were unique to Earth. Adapted from Christian Science Monitor
October 26, 2005
Did you know that Human DNA consists of more than 3 billion building
blocks whose sequences form genes, just like letters spell a word?
For any two unrelated persons, these letters are 99.9 percent the
same.
