• A fall to cheer: For the first time ever, the number of poor people is declining everywhere
• Foreclosed Americans find way back to homeownership
• Germany, France to cooperate on growth strategy

• Military leaders, medical researchers promote Transcendental Meditation for resilience and health
• Does Transcendental Meditation help veterans with PTSD? The Washington Post reports on national summit
• Ethiopia: Celebrating the fulfilment of the Invincible Africa tour

• Amnesty Int'l: Mali suffering its 'worst crisis'
• Syria sugar refineries paralysed, smuggling seen soaring
• Two Mexican generals detained for alleged drug gang ties

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Positive Trends
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

A fall to cheer: For the first time ever, the number of poor people is declining everywhere
16 May 2012 - Global poverty in 2010 -- the most recent report -- was half its 1990 level. The world reached the United Nations 'millennium development goal' of halving world poverty between 1990 and 2015 five years early. This implies that the long-term rate of poverty reduction -- slightly over one percentage point a year -- continued unabated in 2008-10. A lot of the credit goes to China. Half the long-term rate of decline is attributable to that country alone, which has taken 660 million people out of poverty since 1981. (more)

Foreclosed Americans find way back to homeownership
16 May 2012 - Data is not available, but interviews with more than 30 lenders, builders, Realtors, and consumers suggest that a growing number of Americans are getting back into the housing market, even though they went through a foreclosure, bankruptcy, or short sale in recent years. Much of the comeback wouldn't be possible without help from the US government, namely the Federal Housing Agency. (more)

Germany, France to cooperate on growth strategy
16 May 2012 - New French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged differences on Tuesday over how to boost growth in recession-plagued Europe, but pledged to forge a joint approach in time for an EU summit next month. 'Growth has to feed through to the people. And that's why I'm happy that we'll discuss different ideas on how to achieve growth,' Merkel said. (more)

Haiti's new Prime Minister: Mining laws being drafted
16 May 2012 - The Haitian government is drafting legislation for the newly emerging mining industry to help the impoverished Caribbean nation reap benefits, the new Prime Minister said Tuesday. The legislation will lay out rules apportioning royalties for the government and setting protections for the people and environment that could be affected by mines. (more)

South Africa: Government to help boost manufacturing sector
16 May 2012 - The manufacturing sector is to get a R5.75 billion injection over six years from the Department of Trade and Industry to help factories become more competitive. The programme, which would borrow on lessons from the successful Clothing and Textile Competitiveness Improvement Programme, includes six incentive grants. These will help improve firms' competitiveness in capital investment, green technology and resource efficiency improvement, enterprise-level competitiveness improvement, cluster competitiveness improvement, and funding for feasibility studies. (more)

Thailand: Government to launch proactive campaign against corruption
16 May 2012 - The Government is stepping efforts to launch a serious campaign against corruption. It will organize a workshop on anti-corruption strategies on 18 May 2012, when Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is scheduled to announce the Government's strategies and its proactive plan to fight corruption. The workshop will take place at the Government Complex Commemorating His Majesty the King's 80th Birthday Anniversary on Chaeng Watthana Road in Bangkok. It will be joined by representatives from the public and private sectors and members of the media. (more)

Kenya's Housing Finance to develop houses
15 May 2012 - Kenya's sole specialist mortgage lender Housing Finance will develop a housing project in the next two years to create additional income from properties aimed at low and middle income earners, it said on 9 May. The east African nation of 40 million people has a massive housing deficit with annual demand at 250,000 units against supply of around 60,000 units. It plans to sell the houses at 15 per cent below market value to attract low and middle income earners faced with high credit costs. (more)

Tunisia economy grew 2 per cent in first quarter: Prime Minister
15 May 2012 - Tunisia's Prime Minister said on 10 May the economy grew 2 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, climbing back from a contraction a year ago. 'The size of industrial and private sector investment has grown by 42 per cent and foreign investment has risen by 35 per cent in the first third of 2012,' Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali told an economic conference in Beirut. (more)

Cambodia: Northeast new focus for tourism
14 May 2012 - The Ministry of Tourism will shift its focus to ecotourism development in the Kingdom's northeast after efforts to promote travel to Cambodia's coastline proved successful. Whereas Tourism Minister Thong Kong had once asked officials to focus on industry improvement in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, the ministry will now put an increasing amount of resources into ecotourism in Kratie, Stung Trung, Ratanakkiri, and Mondulkiri provinces. Dolphin watching, natural beauty, and ethnic diversity are some of the highlights of the region. (more)

Chile's indigenous groups find ally in Supreme Court
14 May 2012 - Indigenous groups in Chile celebrated a recent court ruling that represented the latest victory in the struggle for respect for their right to be previously consulted about major projects, which directly affect their communities. For the past three years, indigenous communities around the country have filed legal action demanding compliance with International Labour Organization Convention 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, Chile's Indigenous Law, and the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Military leaders, medical researchers promote Transcendental Meditation for resilience and health
4 May 2012 - More than 130 military and governmental leaders and medical researchers gathered Thursday, 3 May at the Army and Navy Club in Washington, D.C. for a national summit on 'Resilience, the Brain and Meditation.' The meeting investigated the extensive scientific evidence and clinical experience using the Transcendental Meditation Technique to promote resilience and overcome post-traumatic stress disorder among active-duty military personnel, veterans, and cadets. (more)

Does Transcendental Meditation help veterans with PTSD? The Washington Post reports on national summit
3 May 2012 - Seeking new ways to treat post-traumatic stress, the Department of Veterans Affairs (US) is studying the use of Transcendental Meditation to help returning veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. (more)

Ethiopia: Celebrating the fulfilment of the Invincible Africa tour
14 April 2012 - The Album of Events page of Global Good News is featuring a series of photos from Ethiopia highlighting the recent visit of Dr Bevan Morris, President of Maharishi University of Management, in one of the final venues on the historic Invincible Africa tour of 14 countries. The tour honoured 50 years of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's programmes and technologies of consciousness on the continent. Maharishi first came to Ethiopia in 1973, arriving in Addis Ababa with the goal of creating a peaceful and invincible Africa. (more)

Ramayan, the story of wholeness
17 March 2012 - In a recent discussion of his new book, Ramayan in Human Physiology, Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam went on to give a brief outline of the ancient story of the Ramayan, one of the great epics of the Vedic literature. Maharaja is a distinguished scientist who was appointed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to represent the Global Country of World Peace. (more)

Mauritius, Mozambique host Invincible Africa tour
9 March 2012 - The 14-nation tour of Africa by Dr Bevan Morris, President of Maharishi University of Management, continues to progress through several more countries. Starting over a month ago in four West African nations and continuing in South Africa, Dr Morris has been meeting senior government leaders, ministers, educators, health officials, and other leading citizens. Following successful visits to Johannesburg, Durban, and Capetown in South Africa, he went on to Mauritius and then to Mozambique, where he met with former President Joaquim Chissano, who implemented the Transcendental Meditation Programme widely in the country in the 1990s. (more)

Togo: Programmes presented to raise the quality of life of the nation
4 March 2012 - Government leaders in Togo recently heard compelling presentations on how scientifically verified programmes of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in health care, education, justice, and rehabilitation can help citizens rise out of poverty and conflict while promoting social coherence, invincible peace and progress, and problem-free administration for the nation as a whole. (more)

Togo: Government leaders learn of Maharishi's programmes for reduced crime, effective rehabilitation
17 February 2012 - During his recent visit to Togo in West Africa, Dr Bevan Morris, Prime Minister of the Global Country of World Peace, presented to a government leader in the area of justice the successful, scientifically validated programmes developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for reduction of crime and rehabilitation of prisoners. One especially important initiative took place in Senegal between 1987 and 1989, when 12,000 prison inmates were instructed in the Transcendental Meditation Programme. (more)

News of Chinese Vice President's visit to Iowa, USA, highlights Chinese couple from MUM in Fairfield
15 February 2012 - A number of news reports about the visit of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping to Iowa during his US trip this week also highlighted a Chinese couple who drove 70 miles from their home in Fairfield, Iowa, to honour his visit and add their own welcome. (more)

Ghana: Celebrating the launch of Invincible Africa tour in West Africa
6 February 2012 - The Album of Events page of Global Good News is featuring a series of photos from Ghana highlighting the first events of the historic Invincible Africa tour, recently inaugurated with great success in that country by Dr Bevan Morris, President of Maharishi University of Management. In Ghana Dr Morris, an international authority on Consciousness Based Education, Transcendental Meditation, and other programmes of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, embarked on a series of meetings with leaders in government, education, and other fields that continued in other West African countries, and later in southern Africa and the eastern regions of the continent. (more)

Ghana: Government leaders learn about health, education, sustainability programmes
4 February 2012 - During his recent visit to Ghana, Dr Bevan Morris, President of Maharishi University of Management, met with several government leaders, presenting the benefits of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's programmes in the fields of education, health, the environment, science and technology. (more)

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Flops
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Amnesty Int'l: Mali suffering its 'worst crisis'
16 May 2012 - The West African state of Mali is suffering its worst crisis in half a century after a coup in the capital and a rebel takeover in the country's north, an international human rights group said in a report released Wednesday. Amnesty International documents a host of human rights abuses committed in the country including summary executions, arbitrary detentions and assaults. The rights group says that all parties to the conflict are believed to be responsible for human rights violations. The north of Mali was taken over by a mix of Tuareg separatist forces and Islamist fighters in late March. Government forces, left in disarray after a coup in Bamako just a week before, fled the north without putting up resistance. In a matter of days, the Islamist fighters had seized control of the three largest towns in the north and have since attempted to impose Shariah law. Amnesty says the humanitarian catastrophe that has been unleashed by the twin events is the worst the country has suffered since independence from France, five decades ago. (more)

Syria sugar refineries paralysed, smuggling seen soaring
16 May 2012 - Escalating violence in Syria has slowed sugar refining to a virtual standstill, with smuggling set to rise as Western sanctions hobble trade finance and disrupt imports of the staple sweetener, trade sources said. While those sanctions are not meant to target food imports, the complexity of trade, including extensive due diligence, is hampering deals. Trade sources told Reuters that Syria's four sugar refineries were either shut or producing modest amounts, with unrest contributing to the disruptions. Syria is also facing problems buying grain from international markets. 'We face difficulty in importing food because Lebanese banks and traders in the United Arab Emirates refuse to deal with Syrians,' a Syria-based source familiar with the matter said. Because of the conflict, one million out of Syria's 23 million population now need humanitarian help, according to a UN mission which visited in March. The United Nations has rebuffed a demand by Damascus that it manage the delivery of all humanitarian aid and the UN insists on having some control. (more)

Two Mexican generals detained for alleged drug gang ties
16 May 2012 - Investigators are questioning Mexico's former deputy defence minister and a top army general for suspected links to organized crime, in the highest level scandal to hit the military in the five-year-old drug war. Mexican soldiers on Tuesday detained retired general Tomas Angeles Dauahare and general Roberto Dawe Gonzalez and turned them over to the country's organized crime unit, military and government officials said. Dauahare served as No. 2 in the armed forces under President Felipe Calderon and helped lead the government's crackdown on drug cartels after soldiers were deployed to the streets in late 2006. He retired in 2008. Dawe Gonzalez, still an active duty general, led an elite army unit in the western state of Colima and local media said he previously held posts in the violent states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua. The charges, if proven true, would mark the most serious case of military corruption during Calderon's administration. (more)

12 killed, villages razed in northeast Nigeria
15 May 2012 - Gunmen surrounded villages in northeast Nigeria and set them ablaze, killing at least 12 people and wounding 48 others in violence that could spread as attackers remain hiding in the rural region. The attacks targeted four villages early Sunday morning in a remote area of Adamawa state. The number of dead could rise as relief workers remain unable to reach the villages affected and about 2,000 people have fled. Volunteers 'could not get safe access to these affected communities as the gunmen are said to be in the bush around the communities changing plans,'. It estimated as many as 100 gunmen attacked the villages. Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people, often sees outbreaks of violence across religious lines. However, the attacks often find their root in political and economic problems. Meanwhile, the nation is facing increasingly bloody sectarian attacks from a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram. (more)

At least 44 killed in offensive on Yemen militants
15 May 2012 - At least 44 people including 30 Islamist militants were killed overnight in Yemen, officials and residents said on Tuesday, as the government pressed ahead with a new US-backed offensive against insurgents in the south. The Islamist rebellion is of serious concern to the United States and to Yemen's much bigger neighbour Saudi Arabia, which both fear that instability could give al Qaeda's Yemen-based regional wing a bigger foothold near oil shipping routes through the Red Sea. Residents and local officials said heavy fighting erupted late on Monday between the army and militants in an area called al-Jabalain in the south, as troops tried to advance on the militant-held city of Jaar. United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations working in Yemen called in a statement on 'involved parties to take all necessary steps to avoid civilian casualties and to minimise collateral damage'. (more)

India state faces corruption scandal in low-caste parks
15 May 2012 - Of the many recent corruption scandals rocking India, none threaten to deliver the same symbolic blow as Uttar Pradesh's planned investigation into parks honouring the contribution of dalits, the lowest Hindu caste. A new state government is investigating millions of dollars it says were misappropriated by former Chief Minister Mayawati's administration as it built the statues and monuments. The park project has been a magnet for criticism in one of India's poorest states, where tens of millions suffer from malnutrition and many still die from treatable diseases such as cholera and diarrhea. Though she spent more on parks than on medical supplies, Mayawati has insisted the sprawling pavilions brought a long-overdue sense of pride to the dalit community. Police are investigating how the administration paid about $15 million for 130 stone elephant statues, or more than $115,000 each, while the artisans were promised only one-tenth that price. Money is said to have been misappropriated when buildings and walls were constructed, destroyed, and then rebuilt repeatedly. Palm and date trees were planted only to be uprooted and thrown away. Many contract prices were inflated. (more)

Mexico: 49 victims along the US border likely the result of gang warfare
14 May 2012 - Authorities struggled Monday to identify the 49 people found in a region near the US border in the presumed fight between Mexico's two dominant drug cartels to outdo each other in bloodshed and expand their territory and smuggling routes. Interior Secretary Alejandro Poire confirmed Monday that there are indications that the recent massacres are the result of a fight between the Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel. There have been 74 killings in the first four months of this year Cadereyta municipality, compared to 27 over the same period in 2011, and 7 in 2010, according to prosecutor's figures in Nuevo Leon state, where the city is located. The fearsome Zetas cartel was founded by deserters from the Mexican army's special forces as the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel, which historically dominated northeastern Mexico and the border along Texas. The groups split in early 2010, causing a bloody battle for territory that the Zetas have been winning. The weakened Gulf Cartel has started to align itself with Sinaloa to battle the Zetas. (more)

Bahrain protesters clash with police outside capital
12 May 2012 - Pro-democracy protesters burned tyres and clashed with police in Bahrain on Saturday to demand the release of opposition leaders and rights activists, one of whom has been on a three-month hunger strike, residents said. Hundreds of youths gathered in mainly Shi'ite villages outside the Gulf state's capital Manama, some masked and throwing petrol bombs towards rows of riot police, they said. In Washington, the US State Department said on Friday the United States would resume some military sales to Bahrain, a key Gulf ally facing Iran, despite human rights concerns linked to the popular protests against the island kingdom's rulers. Bahrain has been in turmoil since activists mainly from the majority Shi'ite community began protests in February 2011. The authorities tried to crush the movement with martial law and by bringing in Saudi troops, accusing activists of cooperating with Shi'ite Iran to change the system of government. The opposition and Iran reject the accusation. (more)

In Egypt turmoil, thieves hunt pharaonic treasures
12 May 2012 - Taking advantage of Egypt's political upheaval, thieves have gone on a treasure hunt with a spree of illegal digging, preying on the country's ancient pharaonic heritage. Illegal digs near ancient temples and in isolated desert sites have swelled a staggering 100-fold over the past 16 months since a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak's 29-year regime and security fell apart in many areas as police simply stopped doing their jobs. The pillaging comes on top of a wave of break-ins last year at archaeological storehouses -- and even at Cairo's famed Egyptian Museum, the country's biggest repository of pharaonic artifacts. 'It is no longer a crime motivated by poverty, it's naked greed and it involves educated people,' Maj.-Gen. Abdel-Rahim Hassan, commander of the Tourism and Antiquities Police Department, said. In the security void, the treasure hunting has mushroomed, and elated crimes have risen as well -- 1,467 cases of illicit trading in antiquities and 130 attempts to smuggle antiquities abroad. (more)

Militant video claims deadly Syria bombings
12 May 2012 - A video posted online in the name of a shadowy militant group late Friday claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the Syrian capital this week that killed 55 people. The video's authenticity could not be independently verified. The Al-Nusra Front has claimed past attacks through statements posted on militant websites. Little is known about the group, although Western intelligence officials say it could be a front for al-Qaida. Western officials say there is little doubt that Islamist extremists, some associated with al-Qaida, have made inroads in Syria as instability has spread since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad 14 months ago. Their presence adds a wild card element to the Syria conflict that could further hamper international efforts to end it. (more)