Now here are some good things :-
1. A 21-year old motorcyclist who collided with a BMW on the campus of Utah State University was lying unconscious beneath the burning wreckage when bystanders rushed to help. Workers at a nearby construction site began to lift the car along with students, while a professor shot the scene on his camera phone from an upper window of a building. Rescuers thought the man had already died, while arrived at the scene with fire extinguishers. But fortunately the man survived.
2. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, absent from the U.S. Capitol since she was shot in the head 7 months ago, walked into the House chamber to hearty applause before she cast a yea vote as the dramatic debt ceiling debate came to an official close in the House of Representatives early this evening. With her surprise appearence, the Representative from Arizona joined 94 other Democrats in passing the compromise bill, 269-166, averting a possible default on the nation's credit. 175 Republicans also voted for the bipartisan deal, easily passing the measure, which had been crafted over the weekend. Rep. Gifford tweeted after the vote, "The Capitol looks beautiful and I'm honored to be at work tonight." She was walking and talking and seemed wholly recovered among the crowds of Congressional admirers surrounding her. In a statement released by her office, Giffords said, "I had to be here for this vote. I could not take the chance that my absence could crash our economy."
3. On New Year’s Day, a devastating terrorist bombing at a Coptic Christian church in Egypt killed 21 people and injured 79 others. It was assumed the culprits were Muslim extremists, intent on targeting those they saw as heretics. The following week, as Egyptian Copts attended mass at churches across the country to celebrate their Christmas, “thousands” of Muslims, including “the two sons of President Hosni Mubarak,” joined them, acting as “human shields” to protect them from possible terrorist attack. The Muslims organized under the slogan “We either live together, or we die together.”
4. Detroit is enjoying a renaissance this year. Chrysler and GM have begun to pay off considerable chunks of their bailout receipts and all Big Three auto manufacturers – Ford, GM, and Chrysler – posted profits in the third quarter. In sports, the Tigers made it to the ALCS with AL Cy Young and MVP Justin Verlander, and the Lions have a chance to hand reigning champs Green Bay its first loss of the year. The city’s morale has been buoyed by an influx of young entrepreneurs, eliciting comparisons to Brooklyn’s hipster-friendly Williamsburg by the New York Times. After limping on life support for years, the Motor City’s auto industry and sports teams finds themselves in this unlikely situation due to outside intervention with savvy use of assistance leading to better product on the field and the assembly line and renewed faith in Detroit. Detroit’s struggles began long before GM and Chrysler needed bailouts to stay alive. As American auto sales declined in the face of rising Asian autos and union pensions bogged down profit margins, American auto slowly walked to its apparent doom. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allowed GM and Chrysler to restructure their debt and pensions, but without the government’s bailout and an improved line of cars, both would be out of gas.
5. NAIROBI, Kenya — The drought-induced famine crisis in Somaliahas eased somewhat, United Nations officials said on Friday, with the number of people facing imminent starvation dropping to nearly 250,000 from 750,000 because of rainfall and increased aid deliveries. somali internally displaced persons waited in line to receive relief food at a food distribution center in Mogadishu. the situation remains bleak, however, and Somalia’s food security is still the worst in the world. But “substantial humanitarian assistance has mitigated the most extreme food deficits and reduced mortality levels,” according to a report issued by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network and the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit, which are partly financed by the American government and the United Nations. Somalia has lurched from crisis to crisis since its central government collapsed in 1991, and this year a famine swept through the southern regions of the country. Drought was the immediate cause; the year has been one of the driest in decades. But the drought unleashed a full-blown famine at the hands of the Shabab, a vehemently anti-Western militant group that controls much of southern Somalia and that has been blocking most aid agencies from reaching people in need. In the last few months, Western aid agencies have been ramping up operations and scrambling to find ways to obviate the Shabab restrictions, relying on technologies like sending money electronically by cellphone so people in famine zones can buy food from local markets. Western charities are also partnering with new players on the aid scene, like Turkish groups and other Muslim organizations that are allowed into Shabab-controlled areas.
1. A 21-year old motorcyclist who collided with a BMW on the campus of Utah State University was lying unconscious beneath the burning wreckage when bystanders rushed to help. Workers at a nearby construction site began to lift the car along with students, while a professor shot the scene on his camera phone from an upper window of a building. Rescuers thought the man had already died, while arrived at the scene with fire extinguishers. But fortunately the man survived.
2. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, absent from the U.S. Capitol since she was shot in the head 7 months ago, walked into the House chamber to hearty applause before she cast a yea vote as the dramatic debt ceiling debate came to an official close in the House of Representatives early this evening. With her surprise appearence, the Representative from Arizona joined 94 other Democrats in passing the compromise bill, 269-166, averting a possible default on the nation's credit. 175 Republicans also voted for the bipartisan deal, easily passing the measure, which had been crafted over the weekend. Rep. Gifford tweeted after the vote, "The Capitol looks beautiful and I'm honored to be at work tonight." She was walking and talking and seemed wholly recovered among the crowds of Congressional admirers surrounding her. In a statement released by her office, Giffords said, "I had to be here for this vote. I could not take the chance that my absence could crash our economy."
3. On New Year’s Day, a devastating terrorist bombing at a Coptic Christian church in Egypt killed 21 people and injured 79 others. It was assumed the culprits were Muslim extremists, intent on targeting those they saw as heretics. The following week, as Egyptian Copts attended mass at churches across the country to celebrate their Christmas, “thousands” of Muslims, including “the two sons of President Hosni Mubarak,” joined them, acting as “human shields” to protect them from possible terrorist attack. The Muslims organized under the slogan “We either live together, or we die together.”4. Detroit is enjoying a renaissance this year. Chrysler and GM have begun to pay off considerable chunks of their bailout receipts and all Big Three auto manufacturers – Ford, GM, and Chrysler – posted profits in the third quarter. In sports, the Tigers made it to the ALCS with AL Cy Young and MVP Justin Verlander, and the Lions have a chance to hand reigning champs Green Bay its first loss of the year. The city’s morale has been buoyed by an influx of young entrepreneurs, eliciting comparisons to Brooklyn’s hipster-friendly Williamsburg by the New York Times. After limping on life support for years, the Motor City’s auto industry and sports teams finds themselves in this unlikely situation due to outside intervention with savvy use of assistance leading to better product on the field and the assembly line and renewed faith in Detroit. Detroit’s struggles began long before GM and Chrysler needed bailouts to stay alive. As American auto sales declined in the face of rising Asian autos and union pensions bogged down profit margins, American auto slowly walked to its apparent doom. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allowed GM and Chrysler to restructure their debt and pensions, but without the government’s bailout and an improved line of cars, both would be out of gas.
5. NAIROBI, Kenya — The drought-induced famine crisis in Somaliahas eased somewhat, United Nations officials said on Friday, with the number of people facing imminent starvation dropping to nearly 250,000 from 750,000 because of rainfall and increased aid deliveries. somali internally displaced persons waited in line to receive relief food at a food distribution center in Mogadishu. the situation remains bleak, however, and Somalia’s food security is still the worst in the world. But “substantial humanitarian assistance has mitigated the most extreme food deficits and reduced mortality levels,” according to a report issued by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network and the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit, which are partly financed by the American government and the United Nations. Somalia has lurched from crisis to crisis since its central government collapsed in 1991, and this year a famine swept through the southern regions of the country. Drought was the immediate cause; the year has been one of the driest in decades. But the drought unleashed a full-blown famine at the hands of the Shabab, a vehemently anti-Western militant group that controls much of southern Somalia and that has been blocking most aid agencies from reaching people in need. In the last few months, Western aid agencies have been ramping up operations and scrambling to find ways to obviate the Shabab restrictions, relying on technologies like sending money electronically by cellphone so people in famine zones can buy food from local markets. Western charities are also partnering with new players on the aid scene, like Turkish groups and other Muslim organizations that are allowed into Shabab-controlled areas.
Gud to find all gud news for the year under one head. Thanks
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