Kings College Choir sing

A beautiful Christmas Carol always heals a little.

Dogs rescue penguins on small Australian island

Dogs have been brought in to rescue a colony of the world's smallest penguins on a tiny Australian Island, a report by the BBC has confirmed.

When foxes moved in and nearly wiped out the colony of penguins on Middle Island, just off the coast of southern Victoria, a farmer came up with a novel way to protect the birds - and the story has now been made into a film.

Originally known as fairy penguins - before it was deemed politically incorrect - they are now known as little penguins.

Middle Island is separated from the mainland by a stretch of water measuring no more than 20 or 30m but it is uninhabited by humans. At low tide foxes can easily cross from the mainland. The fox population began to grow with the easy source of food.

Peter Abbott from the Penguin Preservation Project said there were initially around 800 penguins but after the foxes began their killing spree, just four were found – the worst night being when 360 birds were killed over about two nights.

But fortunately a chicken farmer, by the name of Swampy Marsh, came up with a plan - to send one of his Maremma dogs (traditionally used to protect chickens) in to protect the penguins. The dog, called Oddball, made quite an impact and amazingly, since Oddball and his four-legged successors were introduced 10 years ago, there has not been a single penguin killed by a fox on Middle Island. The little penguin population has now returned to almost 200.

The dogs operate in the penguin's breeding season, usually from October to March, when they spend five or six days a week on the island. But even when the dogs are absent, their lingering scent is enough to keep the foxes away.

The film – Oddball - has already taken around 11m Australian dollars (£5.3m) at the box office and is now heading for global audiences.

Listen to Jon Donnison's report on BBC iPlayer radio here.

Airline gives its passengers a big Christmas surprise

The kindness of humanity surfaces in the latest UK flood disaster

The inherent kindness of humanity has come to the fore in the recent flooding disaster which has hit the north of the UK recently.

The true scale of 'Storm Desmond' is still to be fully realised as emergency services and soldiers from all over England continue to bring aid to those affected.

But in the worst-hit communities of Carlisle and Cockermouth, work has started closer to home. The BBC has reported hundreds of people working hard to help out. A Facebook group designed to bring together people who could help has already attracted 11,000 followers from as far afield as London, Wales and Belfast, and a team of 12 has been drafted in to help cope with the number of donations and volunteers.

Haulage company Eddie Stobart has offered free storage space in Carlisle to house the mountains of donations pouring in. The group has been swamped with offers of everything from nappies, kitchen utensils and generators to crates of water, toiletries, free furniture and a bed for the night.

It's 'amazing who you meet in these hard times,' wrote member Michelle Smith on the Facebook page. "Tonight I've given my bed up for two old age pensioners and even though they've lost basically everything they've had me giggling all night long. God bless community spirit, I am proud to be Cumbrian."

Catherine Clarke, who runs Cathy's Cupcakes in Broughton, was invited to join the group and the firm responded by delivering food and drink to people in need. "On Saturday, I went to the mountain rescue centre with 50 sausage sandwiches and 50 bacon sandwiches as well as 60 litres of homemade soup," she said. "But I'm not the only one, people have been out all night. Everyone's been trying to do what they can and all the little companies have been providing help to each other.”

Others have been spreading a little cheer by foot - Scott Murray donned his superhero suit and dished out chocolate and directions to the nearest rescue centre in Carlisle and Alison McKerlie is opening up her dance school in Carlisle to local businesses and has also offered free classes to children to keep them occupied.

The Met Office has warned that 'all the evidence' suggests climate change has played a role in the floods caused by Storm Desmond. It has also issued a severe weather warning for rain this week as northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland brace themselves for more heavy downpours. Environment Secretary Liz Truss said the severity of the weather was 'unprecedented', with a new record set for rainfall over a 48-hour period - 15.9in at Thirlmere in Cumbria. The Met Office's chief scientist Dame Julia Slingo said the extreme weather conditions were 'extraordinary'.

Mount Ingino Christmas lights are switched on today

On 7^th December every year a giant Christmas tree is lit up on Mount Ingino in Italy.

Having broken the Guiness Book of World Records, the mountain's Christmas tree twinkles with 700 enormous light bulbs - I believe charged by solar energy - linked together with over 10,000m of cable. The tree stands around 650m high and is topped by a shining comet star which can be seen for nearly 50km. The tree stays lit until 10th January.

Little girl gets big surprise

!4-year-old rock climbing extraordinaire

At just 14 years old, Ashima Shiraishi is  considered to be one of the best rock climbers in the world. The New York City-based school girl started playing around on Rat Rock in Central Park when she was seven, and was climbing routes many adults can't finish by the time she was eight. Now she's the only woman and the youngest person of any gender to climb a rock wall with a difficulty grade of 9a+ which is the third most difficult grade in existence. The film is courtesy of VICE Sports and YouTube.

You just can't beat the oldies (with a modern twang)

Enjoy this mashup of 66 (Old) movie dance scenes mashup (courtesy of Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk featuring Bruno Mars)

If you like this video, please support these film preservation charities:

The British Film Institute, http://www.bfi.org.uk/about-bfi/suppo...
The George Eastman Museum, http://eastman.org/donate

'No matter what hatred does, we will only shine brighter'

Support for Paris is flooding into France from around the world after the horrendous attacks on Paris.

In addition to condemnation from Western world leaders, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the attack an 'inhuman crime'.

Buildings across the globe have been lit up in colours of the French flag to show support, including the spire on top of the new One World Trade Center, Sydney Opera House (see left) San Francisco’s City Hall, London Bridge and other towers and bridges in Canada, New Zealand and Mexico.

Supporters on social media have turned their profile photos into French flags, and photos of the Eiffel Tower grounds draped in the American stars and stripes in 2001 following 9/11 have reminded people of the solidarity that inevitably follows tragedy.

American Natasha McIntosh Westhoff wrote, “We know your sunrise Paris- the one where the dust is settling, and you are trying to make sense of the senseless… But we also know – it never lasts. Because no matter what hatred does in the dark of night… it didn’t stop the light… in the brightest city in the world… We know, you will only shine brighter.”

Landfill Harmonic achieving good in Paraguay

While working as an ecological technician at the Cateura Landfill, the largest garbage dump of Paraguay’s capital Asunción, Favio Chávez got to know and befriended some of the 2,500 impoverished families who lived at the garbage dump working as recyclers. Witnessing the rampant illiteracy, extreme poverty, pollution and surrounding culture of drugs and gangs, Chávez became acutely aware that the children needed something positive in their lives – something to keep them out of the landfill and striving for something more.

Having previously been a music teacher, Favio decided to share his love of music with the children, and began teaching music lessons using the handful of personal instruments he owned. He soon realised there wasn’t enough instruments for all the eager students, so he started experimenting with making instruments using scraps of dirty oilcans, jars, wood, forks and other junk in the Cateura landfill, the instruments began to take shape and become finely tuned musical instruments - violins, flutes, cellos, drums…all made from trash. From this ingenuity, the “Recycled Orchestra” was formed with the local children as its members learning and performing Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.

So far, Chavez has taught music skills to over 120 children, inspiring hope, confidence and an awakening of passions within the children and their families who are now beginning to believe in a future beyond the slums of the landfill. The youth orchestra, now 30 members strong, has performed throughout the world and is the subject of the upcoming documentary Landfill Harmonic. There are 50 youth currently participating in the music education program who aspire to soon join the orchestra.

View the trailer to Landfill Harmonic - to be shown this coming Sunday, 27th September, at Zurich Film Festival.

You can make a difference

Did you know you can transform the lives of many Ugandan women with as little as £100?

Ugandan women aren’t short of smart business ideas - they just lack the means to start them. The team behind www.microbanker.com have given out more than eight thousand small business loans to women in rural Uganda to help them to work towards a better future and escape the poverty trap.

As a microbanker you select a business plan to donate to and the loan is passed onto the client – a lady in rural Uganda. While the client builds her business, she makes weekly repayments of the loan, including interest to cover the costs of the organization. The loans are repaid in a maximum of one year and each week you can follow ‘your’ client’s repayments.

The women repay their loans in a maximum of one year in weekly installments. Each installment is added to your online microbanker account. For financial regulatory reasons you cannot take out your donation after the loan has been repaid - it will remain a donation. But you can choose which microcredit to support with the repaid amount, meaning that your one donation will help women again and again to realize their dream of working for a better future!

www.microbanker.com

An all time favourite...

Do not despair yet - writing is still alive and kicking (for now)

With the unstoppable onward march of technology, I worry that writing will one day die out completely. And the amazing art of penmanship that has been around for centuries is quickly becoming extinct as masters pass away and fewer and fewer decide to take their place.

But do not despair just yet. Introducing Jake Weidmann, the youngest master penman in the United States. He is just one of twelve people left in the world to hold the title of master penman, a talent that demonstrates something as simple as handwriting can be hauntingly beautiful.

Football loving Thai kids who had a dream :)

High five to Costa Rica!

Costa Rica produced all of its electricity from renewables for months without a break at the start of the year. In March, the state-owned Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) reported that the country hadn’t had to burn fossil fuels to supply the grid with electricity for the first two and a half months in 2015, a stretch that had never been previously attained by any nation, as reported by IFL Science.

The country’s clean streak is predominantly attributable to heavy rains experienced this year, which kept four of the main hydroelectric power stations busy. In fact, these have been churning out so much energy that virtually all of 2015’s electricity demands have been met through these plants, according to Quartz. The remainder of the country’s grid requirements have been met through a combination of wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy.

Costa Rica is determined to become carbon-neutral by 2021, which seems an achievable goal given that the country is currently meeting around 94% of its energy needs from renewables. Around 68% is sourced from hydroelectric power plants, followed by geothermal energy that contributes about 15%. This dedication to clean energy combined with the country’s broader environmental policies has meant that Costa Rica has been consistently ranked in the top five eco-friendly countries worldwide according to The Telegraph.

Although what Costa Rica is achieving is something to aspire towards, it won’t be easy for many countries to follow in their footsteps. The country is adorned with a number of active volcanoes that allow for geothermal projects, such as the $958 million endeavour approved last year. Costa Rica also experiences high rainfall and features a mountainous landscape, both of which are ideal for the generation of renewable energy. Furthermore, the country is able to invest substantial amounts into environmental issues due to the fact that it ditched its military back in 1948.

I trust you, do you trust me?

Dutch people sue government over inaction on climate change - and win!

A court in The Hague has ordered the Dutch government to cut its emissions by at least 25% within five years in a landmark ruling expected to cause ripples around the world, reports The Guardian.

The judges ruled that the Dutch government's plans to cut emissions by just 14-17% compared to 1990 levels by 2020 were unlawful, given the scale of the threat posed by climate change.

Jubilant campaigners said that governments preparing for the Paris climate summit later this year would now need to look over their shoulders for civil rights era-style legal challenges.

“Before this judgement, the only legal obligations on states were those they agreed among themselves in international treaties,” said Dennis van Berkel, legal counsel for Urgenda, the group that brought the suit.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/24/dutch-government-ordered-cut-carbon-emissions-landmark-ruling

A simple act of caring creates an endless ripple

Touching free hugs experiment

Somebody give this guy a home :)

Homeless guy and his love of the piano.