The secret food of Afghanistan

At the centre of one of the Earth’s harshest environments, on the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, two cookbook authors have found “a profoundly human place”.

This surprising accolade paid tribute to the Pamir region, an ominous environment of steep cliffs, deep valleys, remote villages and harsh weather. It seems an unlikely place to source award-winning recipes – but With Our Own Hands is far more than just a recipe book

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160727-the-secret-food-of-afghanistan

Can't switch off on the weekend?

Could be a personality problem – but there are ways to keep these habits in check.

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160728-this-is-why-you-cant-switch-off-at-the-weekend

Syria's secret library

When a place has been besieged for years and hunger stalks the streets, you might have thought people would have little interest in books. But enthusiasts have stocked an underground library in Syria with volumes rescued from bombed buildings - and users dodge shells and bullets to reach it.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36893303

Just fantastic: Real education in Tanzania

How some of the poorest girls in the world get exactly the education they need.

A must-read:

https://medium.com/@jordosh/how-some-of-the-poorest-girls-in-the-world-get-exactly-the-education-they-need-9fab1b2ae543#.gf6d5awve

Could you live with only 33 pieces of clothing?

Consumers – inspired in part by authors and bloggers – are eager to simplify their lives by throwing out what they don’t truly need. And many start with their closets, eschewing fast fashion trends for small high-quality so-called capsule wardrobes where key pieces can be easily counted without any rummaging.


http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160725-meet-the-people-with-almost-nothing-in-their-closets

An epic 505-day journey by fuel-free Solar Impulse

It's taken more than 500 days, but the epic journey of Solar Impulse 2 is finally complete.

The experimental solar-powered plane made aviation history when it landed in Abu Dhabi before dawn on Tuesday, after successfully circumnavigating the globe without using a single drop of fuel, and overcoming countless problems.

This record-breaking mission was flown by two Swiss pilots, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg.


http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/26/world/solar-impulse-returns-jensen/index.html

Let's not forget the fireflies

“Everyone picks the butterfly,” said the child. “I love the firefly.”

“Well, I think you’re a lot like a firefly. You know why?” her mother asked.

The worry on the child's face lifted. She looked at her mother hopefully.

“Why, Mama?”

“Because you shine from within,” her mother said, touching her finger to the child's heart.

http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=6465

How to build a startup

Ensuring the success of startups is not easy. They require a lot of hard work, sound decision-making abilities and active management.

Get some ideas here:

http://www.thebetterindia.com/58641/business-strategy-for-startups/?utm_source=The+Better+India+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ba288565aa-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cd579275a4-ba288565aa-74060141

Manga therapy

Japan's experience with depression shows how closely tied some forms of physical and mental illness are to broader cultural attitudes - about work, for example, and levels of responsibility towards others.

Torisugari, an artist, who still has to contend with both his illness and with some of the same misunderstandings he faced in his early, surreal weeks decided to produce drawings through which he could talk about his condition, seeking to understand it. Today his manga are garnering an ever-larger and more appreciative audience in print and online. For him it's a kind of "manga therapy", as his psychiatrist calls it. For others - whether suffering with depression or not - it offers help in understanding the condition

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36824927

Exhaustion and burnout

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) involves prolonged periods of excruciating physical and mental exhaustion for at least six months, sometimes experiencing physical pain at the slightest activity.

Burnout is generally not turned against the self but rather against the organisation for which one works, or the clients with whom one works, or the wider socio-political or economic system.

Read more about these conditions that plague us today:

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160721-the-reasons-why-exhaustion-and-burnout-are-so-common

Ten 'lost' books you should read

As the revival of lost works takes the publishing world by storm, Lucy Scholes delves into the archive to uncover the best hidden literary gems.

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160718-ten-lost-books-you-should-read-now

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

Rio 2016 - Will she beat Usain Bolt?

Read about this fantastic woman athlete here:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/18/sport/rio-2016-usain-bolt-fraser-pryce/index.html

The power of story

Across time and culture, stories have been agents of personal transformation. For thousands of years, we’ve known intuitively that stories alter our thinking and, in turn, the way we engage with the world. But only recently has research begun to shed light on how this transformation takes place from inside. Using modern technology like functional MRI (fMRI) scanning, scientists are tackling age-old questions.

http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=6247

The vibrancy of Indian food

The Kerala beef fry is the stuff of legend. This dish has a delicious smell with hints of coconut, curry leaves, cinnamon, cloves, coriander powder and roasted chilly.

It's a definite must-try!

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36366140

Digital nomads

After years on the road, the latest generation of digital nomads — people who work as they travel thanks to an increasing amount of remote opportunities — have come back home with a message: It’s not always a dream to work while travelling and re-integrating into a single community is difficult.

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160706-the-problem-expats-find-with-returning-home

Break Down: A work of art, not a way of life

One day in the ‘90s the British artist Michael Landy came up with a radical concept for an artwork: he decided to destroy every single one of his possessions in public.

Here's how he did it. An absolutely amazing read. What's more it gets you thinking:

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160713-michael-landy-the-man-who-destroyed-all-his-belongings

Warning: Human attention span shortens to 8 seconds due to digital technology

And the 3 ways to stay focused


Findings of researchers revealed that the human attention span has fallen from an average of 12 seconds in the year 2000 to just eight seconds today. Humans now have less of an attention span than a goldfish (nine seconds average). The decrease was seen across all age groups and genders in the study.

However, there are ways to improve our attention span amid the ongoing texts, tweets, and other interruptions.


http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=6635

Summer Poem

By Francine Marie Tolf

I am tired of my dreams’ dark interiors
and the family ghosts who inhabit them.
It is July, and the man I love has brought home
Bing cherries and watermelon, the way my father used to
when I was a child, bags of groceries
jostling each other in the back seat of the station wagon,
daughters running out to the driveway
to carry them in with both arms. Downstairs, the rooms
sing, laughter and sun moving easily
from one to the next, a jar of white peonies
on the kitchen sill, a tawny cat
stretched out in glory on the dining room table.

Clink of ice cubes in tea,
hoops of wetness on coasters,
I will bring back these small things,
the freckles on my mother’s arm,
how the neighborhood was golden
that hour after supper, when the table was cleared
and there was nothing to regret. I will empty
this moldy hurt from my heart
until light fills its chambers, until there is room
for everyone from that house to enter
and know they are welcome.


http://www.gratefulness.org/resource/summer-poem-2/

Reducing food waste in São Paulo

Brazil is among the world’s 10 biggest food wasters ― a staggering 30 percent of all the fruits and vegetables harvested in the country are discarded. On an average, 40,000 tons of food are thrown away daily.

The "Invisible Food" initiative plans to set up a truck that serves food cooked with ingredients that would have otherwise been discarded.

http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/food-waste-project-sao-paulo_us_577fc161e4b01edea78d8990?ir=World&section=us_world&utm_hp_ref=world

The Lion Queens

The Gir forest, India, is the sole home of the Asiatic lion. Before this area was declared a protected zone in 1900, there were only 12 Asiatic lions left in Gir.

Today, this number has risen to 523 and much of the credit goes to Gir’s all-women rescue team who have rescued 627 lions over the years.

http://www.thebetterindia.com/60919/lion-queens-women-rescue-lion-gir-national-park/?utm_source=The+Better+India+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2b6e328106-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cd579275a4-2b6e328106-74060141

Criscent Bwambale sees for the first time

Uganda

This story in pictures will touch your heart

http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-36665483

Making tea made me happy

How Guisepi accidentally stumbled upon the power of serving free tea.

http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=6600



Go further and read how this amazing man lives his life.

http://www.freeteaparty.org/about.html

The World’s Moral Compass

Elie Wiesel......a man not filled with hate, but with sadness and determination. Sadness over all those who were lost, and determination to honor their memory with action and impact.

Elie may have left us, but we still hear his gentle voice, telling us what he would say to anyone who would listen: that people of good conscience have a moral obligation to speak out, be heard, and fight bigotry.


http://time.com/4392426/ronald-lauder-elie-wiesel-holocaust/?xid=newsletter-brief

May, Sturgeon, Merkel

There is an increasingly widespread sense that strong female leaders are needed to ‘clean up the mess created by men’.

Mara Delius, writer for the German daily newspaper Die Welt, said these ladies were, “postmodern Elektras in trouser suits and rubber gloves”. Thank goodness, the piece suggested, Europe looked at last to be in safe (female) hands.


http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/05/sturgeon-may-leadsom-women-to-the-rescue-amid-political-turmoil?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=180494&subid=8390868&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

Melanie Wilkes from Gone With The Wind turns 100

Two-time Oscar-winning actress Olivia de Havilland turned 100 on the 1st of July and says that living a century has been quite the journey. [I’m] content with the role that life has given me: a centenarian!” de Havilland told People Magazine in a recent interview to mark her milestone birthday.

As for the secret to living an entire century? De Havilland seems to have an active lifestyle, climbing the five stories of her Parisian home every day. And she does The Times crossword puzzle daily without fail, which we know helps keep your mind razor sharp.

Other than that, her advice is simple. Live by “the three L’s” she told Vanity Fair. “Love, laughter, and light.”


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gone-with-the-wind-actress-says-turning-100-is-her-best-role_us_57768bd6e4b04164640faea9?section=india

A maid is not an equal

Unbelievable...

After two decades of toil, Archana Bera has realised that money cannot you help you choose your neighbours, even in a 'progressive' city like Kolkata. The 55-year-old ayah has been denied a flat in Dhakuria — a popular residential locality in south Kolkata — because the other apartment owners did not want a "maid" as a neighbour.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/ayah-denied-flat-by-respectable-neighbours/articleshow/52997265.cms?from=mdr