http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/images/gnn_logo_rss.gif http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/ 249 31 News of a better world editor@greatnewsnetwork.org great news network en editor@greatnewsnetwork.org Copyright 2012 2012-02-07T08:36:01-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/a_375_year_old_french_bank_forgives_debts_of_paris_poorest/?source=rss Just as France was being chastised for excessive national borrowing with a sovereign debt downgrade, thousands of lucky French people had their financial obligations forgiven after the country's oldest bank decided to simply wipe their slate clean. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Environment Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Feel Good, Inspirational Stories, Regions, Europe, France 2012-01-29T20:42:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/gates_donates_750_million_to_fight_aids_tb_and_malaria/?source=rss The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will inject $750 million into the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates announced Thursday at the World Economic Forum. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Health Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, USA Top Stories, World, Health, Feel Good, Heroic Stories 2012-01-27T08:51:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/the_cleanweb_takes_off/?source=rss This past weekend in New York, a group of high tech companies, venture investors, hackers, college students held the second Cleanweb Hackathon -- a gathering where software developers and serial entrepreneurs, fueled by coffee and burritos -- or similar fare -- stay up one, two or more nights writing code for apps that just may change the world. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Science Top Stories, USA Top Stories, Science, Technology, Feel Good, Heroic Stories, Regions, North America, United States, New York 2012-01-26T17:06:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/businesses_seek_californias_new_benefit_corporation_status/?source=rss On the first business day after a state law took effect, a dozen companies committed to social and environmental causes file papers to legally put those efforts on par with their goal of making profits. Top Headlines, Business Top Stories, Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, Feel Good, Inspirational Stories, Regions, North America, United States, California 2012-01-09T21:56:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/mit_to_offer_free_education_online_courses_to_all/?source=rss The disruption of higher education just got very interesting. It appears that the disruptors — private, online universities — are being disrupted at their own game. One of the pantheons of traditional on-site learning, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has announced it will be launching online courses that will be free and open to the world. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, World, Feel Good, Regions, North America, United States, Massachusetts 2012-01-02T18:29:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/2012_doomsday_predictions_debunked_by_nasa/?source=rss On Dec. 21, 2012, many doomsday believers fear the apocalypse — anything from a rogue planet smashing into us to our world spinning end over end. However, the world should expect nothing more next year than the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, NASA says. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Science Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, Science, Space, Feel Good, Inspirational Stories 2012-01-01T16:25:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/mayan_timekeeper_says_world_wont_end_in_2012_as_its_only_a_calendar_change/?source=rss Many consider it a joke although others are scared we might never live to see next year thanks to the Mayan calendar’s ‘apocalyptic’ prediction. But Mayan expert Leonzo Barreno, of Saskatchewan, Canada, says the ‘apocalypse’ concept is a false interpretation of the Long Count calendar. Top Headlines, Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Feel Good, Inspirational Stories 2012-01-01T16:05:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/alberto_cairo_there_are_no_scraps_of_men/?source=rss Alberto Cairo's clinics in Afghanistan used to close down during active fighting. Now, they stay open. At TEDxRC2 (the RC stands for Red Cross/Red Crescent), Cairo tells the powerful story of why -- and how he found humanity and dignity in the midst of war. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, Feel Good, Heroic Stories, Regions, Asia, Afghanistan 2011-12-24T04:16:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/indonesian_girl_who_was_swept_away_in_the_2004_tsunami_is_reunited_with_her/?source=rss A girl who was swept away in the Indian Ocean tsunami seven years ago said Friday she broke down in tears this week after tracking down her parents, who had long lost hope of finding her alive. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, Feel Good, Reunited Stories, Regions, South-East Asia, Indonesia 2011-12-23T17:15:01-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/no_more_corporate_personhood_in_la_unanimous/?source=rss Thanks to ground work by the U.S. Green Party, the wave of Occupy Wall Street empowerment and Human Rights Aler, Los Angeles became the first major U.S. city to vote against corporate personhood and call for a Constitutional Amendment asserting corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights and that money is not free speech. Top Headlines, Top Stories, USA Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Human Rights, Politics, Feel Good, Inspirational Stories, Regions, North America, United States, California 2011-12-21T19:30:01-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/the_protester_named_times_person_of_year/?source=rss 'The protester' was named Time magazine's person of the year Wednesday, a tribute to those bringing change across the Arab world as well as anti-corporate greed demonstrations in the US and Europe. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Politics, Feel Good, Heroic Stories 2011-12-16T03:33:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/unsung_heroes_the_life_of_a_wildlife_ranger_in_the_congo/?source=rss The effort to save wildlife from destruction worldwide has many heroes. Some receive accolades for their work, but others live in obscurity, doing good—sometimes even dangerous—work everyday with little recognition. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Environment Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, Environment, Forests, Wildlife, Feel Good, Heroic Stories, Regions, Africa, Dem. Rep. of the Congo 2011-11-03T06:34:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/centenarian_sets_record_by_running_a_marathon/?source=rss A British centenarian of Indian ancestry became the oldest person ever to complete a full 42-kilometer (26-mile) marathon over the weekend in Toronto, Canadian media said Monday. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, Feel Good, Inspirational Stories 2011-10-18T06:30:01-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/to_the_rescue_finding_a_purpose_for_rejected_shelter_dogs/?source=rss Wilma Melville created a nonprofit that partners shelter dogs with firefighters and trains them to save lives after a disaster. Since 1996, the teams have responded to 80 disasters across the world, including the September 11 attacks and this year's earthquake in Japan. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, Feel Good, Heroic Stories 2011-10-08T18:44:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/nourishing_new_yorks_low_income_communities/?source=rss Gina Keatley's nonprofit, Nourishing NYC, is helping low-income people eat healthier. Since 2008, the group has provided fresh food and nutrition programs -- for free -- to nearly 100,000 residents of Harlem and the Bronx. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, Feel Good, Heroic Stories, Regions, North America, United States, New York 2011-10-02T21:19:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/young_indonesians_paint_the_town_green/?source=rss Young Indonesians are breathing new life into their polluted concrete capital city with little more than buckets of soil and seeds. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, World, Environment, Land, Feel Good, Inspirational Stories, Regions, South-East Asia, Indonesia 2011-10-01T21:39:01-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/activists_worldwide_push_for_leaving_the_fossil_fuel_age_behind/?source=rss On six continents, in over 75 percent of the world's countries, people came out en masse yesterday to attend over 2,000 events to demonstrate the power of renewable energy to combat global climate change. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Environment Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Politics, Environment, Climate and Energy, Feel Good, Inspirational Stories 2011-09-26T15:17:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/pay_it_forward_bracelets_a_small_idea_for_a_big_change/?source=rss Some people feel that their ability to change to world for the better is miniscule. They feel that they lack either time or money or a platform from which to manifest this change. Charley Johnson wants to change all that. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, Feel Good, Heroic Stories, Inspirational Stories 2011-09-23T14:28:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/social_project_uses_pop_bottles_to_provide_indoor_lighting_for_the_poor/?source=rss Perhaps you've performed that old camping trick before, where you created a lantern by shining a flashlight into a water-filled bottle. While that may have helped you find your marshmallows in the dark, imagine how much brighter that bottle would have been if it were lit directly by the Sun. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, Environment, Climate and Energy, Feel Good, Inspirational Stories, Regions, South-East Asia, Philippines 2011-09-17T15:55:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/remembering_9_11_a_warriors_unexpected_gift_to_america/?source=rss As America looked inward in the days, weeks and months after September 11, 2001, others around the world made extraordinary gestures toward the United States. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Special Interest Top Stories, USA Top Stories, World, Feel Good, Inspirational Stories 2011-09-11T21:38:00-08:00