Shot of a Lifetime

Jason McElwain, an autistic high school basketball team member in Rochester, New York, served as the team manager and spirit coach for several years. On the final game of the season the coach let him put on a uniform with the rest of the team. What happened next you have to see to believe.

German kite ship saves fuel

The MS Beluga SkySail - driven in part by kite-power - successfully crossed the Atlantic and proved that the system does cut down on carbon emissions.

The world's first commerical ship part-powered by a giant kite, Beluga SkySails made energy savings of between 15 and 20 percent during the 14-day voyage from Germany to Venezuela, which according to Beluga is the normal duration of the journey. (Reuters)

Diddy pushes youth to vote once again

Four years ago, Sean "Diddy" Combs took his hip-hop swagger across the nation in an effort to get young people to vote, with the bold slogan "Vote or Die." Now the entertainer has just a simple message: Go vote.

"If we want to stop the war, if we want to get the economy better, I think that young people need to understand they have to take matters into their own hands," Combs, 38, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday. "It is really like waking up a sleeping giant." (AP)

Abortion Rate at 30-Year Low

The U.S. abortion rate has reached a 30-year-low. In 2005 a survey of abortion providers showed the rate was lower than the number of abortions in 1975, which was just two years after Roe v. Wade became the law of the land. The results revealed an eight percent drop in totals from 2000 to 2005. (Good News Network)

British Bishops Launch Carbon Fast

With the season of Lent upon us, bishops in London and Liverpool have come up with a new kind of 40-day fast. Along with the aid agency Tearfund, the bishops have launched a carbon fast. Instead of giving up chocolate, how about giving up on plastic bags or incandescent light bulbs? (NPR audio)

Dutch gas guzzler tax hammers exclusive cars

Buying a Hummer just became 19,000 euros ($28,000) more expensive in the Netherlands.

A new "guzzle tax" came into force on Friday, penalizing cars that exceed a limit on emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide as the Netherlands seeks to reduce its contribution to global warming. (Reuters)

Aboriginal leaders to welcome lawmakers

Aborigines have long lived on the fringe of Australian society, but they will take center stage when Parliament holds a historic ceremony to acknowledge the nation's capital is built on their land. (AP)

Facebook Used to Mobilize Against FARC

The social-networking site Facebook is being used for more than socializing. In Colombia, a Facebook page dedicated to protesting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, that country's largest rebel group, is helping organize millions of people. (NPR)

Waiter's flawless service is rewarded

A full scholarship to a $34,000-a-year private college for a waiter? Now that's a tip.

Two years ago, Marvin Burchall was working the lunch shift at a luxury beachside hotel in his native Bermuda when he waited on an administrator from Endicott College, just north of Boston. To him, Lynn Bak was just another customer, another tourist visiting the island getaway. But Burchall's service was impeccable, and his attentiveness and amiable manner caught Bak's eye. (Boston Globe)

Fredericton buses to use biofuel additive

Transit buses in Fredericton will soon include a spoonful of biofuel in their tanks with the aim of reducing emissions and fuel costs.

Using the biofuel will see greenhouse-gas emissions in the city decrease by 2,200 kilograms per year, Whelan said. (CBC)

Kenyan parties sign agenda to end violence

Rival political parties in Kenya locked in a deadly dispute over December's elections said Friday they had agreed to take immediate action to end the violence that has ravaged the country.
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan said the two sides signed a four-point agenda committing to completing talks within 15 days on measures to end the political crisis. (CBC)

Farming the Amazon with a Machete and Mulch

On jungle land at the mouth of the Amazon River, one resourceful female farmer has become a master of adaptation in a landscape of constant change. Her story offers an example of how individuals might face the challenges of climate change. (NPR)

Wild elephants on increase in Kenya due successful protection measures

Kenya's population of elephants -- both a tourism drive and a measure of the state of the East African country's wildlife -- is increasing, after successful anti-poaching measures and bans on the illegal ivory trade, wildlife officials say. (AP)

Scientists discover way to reverse loss of memory

Scientists performing experimental brain surgery on a man aged 50 have stumbled across a mechanism that could unlock how memory works. Scientists are now applying the technique in the first trial of the treatment in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Three patients have been treated and initial results are promising, according to Andres Lozano, a professor of neurosurgery at the Toronto Western Hospital, Ontario, who is leading the research. (Belfast Telegraph)

Boats to try to prevent hooking seabirds

Albatross looking for a free meal on the high seas often pay the price of being killed or injured going after baited hooks. Now, fishing fleets around the world have agreed to use measures to prevent hooking albatross and other seabirds whose numbers are declining. (AP)

Respecting the aged in Mali

Less than 4 percent of Mali's population is over 60 and therefore considered elderly or in their third stage of life.

However, the elderly are considered a key part of Malian society.

These days, Mali's government isn't leaving the care of the elderly to luck. The average income in Mali is less than a dollar a day and some families find it difficult to take care of their older relatives. Mali's government is helping out and has built a clinic which specializes in geriatrics or healthcare, for the elderly.

U.S. Wind Power Generation Grows by 45 Percent in 2007

Overturning all previous records, the U.S. wind energy industry installed 5,244 megawatts of power in 2007, expanding the nation's total wind power generating capacity by 45 percent in a single calendar year and injecting an investment of over $9 billion into the economy, according to the American Wind Energy Association, AWEA.

The new wind projects account for about 30 percent of the entire new power-producing capacity added nationally in 2007 and will power the equivalent of 1.5 million American households annually. (ENS)

Gates donates $20 million to help rice farmers

Bill Gates, the world's richest man, is to donate nearly 20 million dollars for research into helping rice farmers deal with global warming, the International Rice Research Institute said Monday.

The Philippines-based institute said it would use the donation from the Microsoft founder to harness scientific advances and address major unsolved problems in agriculture. (Terra Daily)

Europe moves to protect trafficked people

Europe has taken a further step towards protecting people who have been trafficked with the entry into force of a new convention on Friday. The 14 states that have so far become parties to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings have committed themselves to ensuring greater respect and protection of the rights of trafficked persons. (Amnesty)

No through road for polluting cars

It's "no entry" for some of Germany's most polluting cars as they are banned from some city centres.

Drivers are now required to get their vehicle's emissions tested and display an environment sticker if they want to drive in the so-called "environment zones" in the inner-city areas of Berlin, Cologne and Hanover. The new measures are designed to cut pollution which has been linked to asthma and other conditions. (video at Reuters)

Blind photographer to hold exhibition

A wildlife photographer is to hold an exhibition of her pictures - despite being blind.

Alison Bartlett's hearing is so acute that she can pick up birds' wings flapping or a squirrel nibbling a nut, reports The Sun. (Ananova)

Boy, 9, averts 70mph smash

A nine-year-old boy steered his mother's car to safety across three lanes of traffic when she blacked out at 70mph. (Ananova)

Kiva lenders' generosity funds all projects

Over the last few months, some visitors to the Web site of Kiva, a nonprofit that lets users make interest-free “microloans” to entrepreneurs in low-development (that is, poor) countries all over the world, were greeted with a surprising message. “Thanks Kiva Lenders!” it began. “You’ve funded EVERY business on the site!!”

Not to worry, though – after instituting a $25-maximum cap on donations to individual enterprises, Kiva is back in business with a new lot of eager entrepreneurs, so if you're ready to invest, you'll probably get the chance. (NY Times)

Virtual World Online Helps Move Agoraphobics Into Real World

One woman can shop for groceries now for the first time in years, after learning to interact in a virtual world on the Internet called Second Life. She became virtually phobia-free by visiting with others like herself online and even sharing in a support group there through her animated alter ego. (Good News Network)

Nova Scotia junior high kids raise money for Bathurst High

Junior high school students in Truro, N.S., played a friendly game of basketball Wednesday to raise money for a New Brunswick high school that lost seven of its students earlier this month.

"We hope the proceeds of this event will help them keep basketball alive in their school," Louise Wirtanen, principal at Central Colchester, said in a release. (CBC)