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/swedish_cities_close_to_building_a_bicycle_superhighway/?source=rss With all the handwringing over aging infrastructure, rising energy costs, high speed rail and other public transportation projects that are spiraling in costs, cities and towns could look at solutions that can improve mobility and do not the bust the budget: bicycles and bicycle paths. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Environment Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Environment, Air Quality, Climate and Energy, Regions, Europe, Sweden 2012-01-22T07:34:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/indonesia_to_conserve_half_of_borneo_region/?source=rss Indonesia's forestry ministry said Thursday it would conserve nearly half its share of Borneo island, which is covered with dense rainforest, so as to meet a presidential pledge to reduce gas emissions. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Environment Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Environment, Forests, Regions, South-East Asia, Indonesia 2012-01-20T21:54:01-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/support_wanes_in_us_congress_for_anti_piracy_bill/?source=rss Eight US lawmakers have withdrawn their support for anti-piracy laws, after 'blackout' protests on thousands of internet sites. Top Headlines, Top Stories, USA Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Human Rights, Politics, Regions, North America, United States, Washington D.C. 2012-01-19T08:21:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/keystone_oil_sands_pipeline_rejected_for_now/?source=rss The Obama administration rejected a bid to expand the controversial Keystone oil sands pipeline Wednesday, saying the deadline imposed by Congress did not leave sufficient time to conduct the necessary review. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Environment Top Stories, World, Politics, Environment, Land, Water, Business, Regions, North America, United States, Washington D.C. 2012-01-19T08:17:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/levis_drops_asia_pulp_paper_due_to_its_link_to_deforestation_in_indonesia/?source=rss Levi Strauss & Company became the latest firm to drop Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) as a supplier due to concerns over APP's continued clearing of rainforests in Sumatra, reports the Rainforest Action Network, a green group in the midst of a campaign against APP. Top Headlines, Business Top Stories, Top Stories, Environment Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Environment, Forests, Business, Regions, South-East Asia, Indonesia 2012-01-18T07:30:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/burma_joy_as_freed_prisoners_head_home/?source=rss When Ko Ko Gyi arrived at Rangoon airport the crowd had been waiting several hours and rushed to greet him. Ko Ko Gyi is one of the best known of the 88 generation of student leaders, along with Min Ko Naing, the most famous. Top Headlines, Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Human Rights, Politics, Regions, South-East Asia, Myanmar 2012-01-13T19:56:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/singapore_supermarket_to_stop_selling_shark_fin/?source=rss SINGAPORE — Singapore's largest supermarket chain will stop selling shark fin products from April after an inflammatory comment by one of its suppliers triggered calls for a boycott from activists and the public. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Environment Top Stories, World, Environment, Wildlife, Regions, South-East Asia, Singapore 2012-01-06T18:22:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/paddy_ashdown_the_global_power_shift/?source=rss Paddy Ashdown claims that we are living in a moment in history where power is changing in ways it never has before. In a spellbinding talk at TEDxBrussels he outlines the three major global shifts that he sees coming. Top Headlines, Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Politics 2012-01-06T05:45:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/european_carbon_regulation_for_airlines_takes_off/?source=rss 2012 started with some good news. On Sunday, the European Union began charging all airlines flying into and out of Europe for their carbon emissions. Covering a third of all global flights, this new scheme is one of the widest-reaching measures adopted lately by any country or regional bloc to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Environment Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Politics, Environment, Climate and Energy 2012-01-04T18:43:00-08:00 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/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/news_measure_to_stop_violence_against_children/?source=rss A United Nations envoy dealing with children’s rights hailed the decision of Member States to adopt a new protocol aimed at protecting children from abuse and violence. Top Headlines, Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Human Rights 2011-12-30T18:24:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/insecticide_treated_bed_nets_working_in_fight_against_malaria/?source=rss It is one of the world's biggest killers. In parts of Africa a child dies from malaria every minute. Now the World Health Organisation says significant progress is being made against the disease thanks, partly, to a campaign of using insecticide-treated bed-nets. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Health Top Stories, World, Health 2011-12-30T17:58:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/egypt_court_stops_virginity_tests_in_military_prisons/?source=rss A Cairo court has ordered forced virginity tests on female detainees in military prisons to be stopped. Top Headlines, Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Human Rights, Regions, Africa, Egypt 2011-12-27T15:29:00-08:00 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/volcano_and_cloud_forests_conserved_in_ecuador/?source=rss Conservation organizations and the Ecuadorian government have succeeded in securing over 250,000 acres (106,000 hectares) of cloud forest and grasslands surrounding the Antisana Volcano for protection. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Environment Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, Environment, Forests, Land, Regions, South America, Ecuador 2011-12-06T08:52:00-08:00 http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/massive_roof_farm_planned_for_berlin/?source=rss A massive former factory roof in Berlin will become a farm to produce food for local residents and could be a model for future city farms, its planners say. Traditional farming needs to evolve, the project's founders said, and urban farming needs to lead the way. Top Headlines, Top Stories, Environment Top Stories, World Top Stories, World, General World, Environment, Land, Regions, Europe, Germany 2011-12-06T08:49:00-08:00