Every week there is death, disaster and politics... But there is also the good news.  So this thread will be a welcome relief... I hope.

Lions rescued from war-torn countries

Two endangered African lions have been rescued from neglected zoos in war zones in Iraq and Syria.

AP reports Simba and Saeed were saved by an animal welfare group and taken to live at a sanctuary with other animals that survived harsh conditions in captivity elsewhere in the world.

The lions were emaciated and dehydrated when they were rescued by Four Paws.

Both lions have received medical care, including vasectomies and dental work, and have gained weight on a steady diet.

'I might be quadriplegic, but I'm your doctor'

Dinesh Palipana told the ABC how he became Queensland's first quadriplegic doctor, working at one of the state's busiest hospitals.

Dr Palipana was halfway through medical school when he crashed his car on Brisbane's Gateway Motorway in 2010.

He went to Sri Lanka so his mum could look after him but he soon realised he wanted to get back into medicine and came back to Australia to continue his degree.

Despite finding it hard to get a job at first, he has been working as a doctor for more than a year and he says he loves his job so much it doesn't even feel like work.

He was even nominated for intern of the year at his hospital in 2017.

World's first plastic-free shopping aisle opens

A supermarket in Amsterdam has opened a plastic-free aisle as part of a war on waste.

CNN reports the Ekoplaza branch has 700 products with plastic-free packaging and the idea will roll out to all of its 74 branches by the end of this year.

Sian Sutherland, co-founder of environmental campaign group A Plastic Planet, told CNN it was the future of food retailing.

nstead of using plastic packaging, the supermarket uses glass, metal and cardboard containers.

Other packaging that appears to be plastic is biofilm made from trees.

Meat, milk, fruit, sauces and rice are some of the products with the new packaging.

99-year-old swimmer breaks 50m freestyle world record

George Corones should surely be in the running for the next Australian of the Year.

During the Commonwealth Games trials on the Gold Coast, the swimmer, who will turn 100 in April, broke a world record when he completed the 50-metre freestyle swim in 56.12 seconds.

Mr Corones only started swimming seriously when he turned 80 and was the only swimmer in his 100-104 age group.

He also smashed two world records in 2013, at the Masters Swimming Queensland meet on the Gold Coast.

Turtle egg protection plan paying off

A new plan is proving to protect these little eastern long-necked turtles from foxes that have been digging up nearly all the turtle nests in Canberra for years.

Last spring, rangers and volunteers spent 15 nights following female turtles around, waiting for them to lay eggs.

They then secured their nests with a metal grid.

This week, 18 hatchlings emerged from their protected nests and were released into the water at Jerrabomberra Wetlands.

Now these baby turtles could live for 60 years.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-02/good-news-that-made-us-smile/9499292

Ahhh... that's better.

Ghana man goes viral for teaching computer technology on a blackboard

A viral photo of a teacher in Ghana explaining how computers work — without computers — has resulted in a promise by Microsoft to send him new computer equipment.

Information and communication technology (ICT) teacher Richard Appiah Akoto shared a photo of himself using a blackboard to show his students how to use Microsoft Word.

"Teaching of ICT in Ghana's school is very funny," Mr Akoto said in a Facebook post.

The post was shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter, and gained prominence after being picked up by international websites and tech enthusiasts.

After a tweet reached Microsoft, the company pledged to send Mr Akoto a computer and give him access to its education material.

"Supporting teachers to enable digital transformation in education is at the core of what we do," the software giant said in a tweet.

While the post has become a source of inspiration for teachers in Africa, it's a reflection of an under-resourced public school system.

In Ghana, there have been calls for a national conversation about fairer distribution of resources to struggling rural schools.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-01/ghana-man-goes-viral-for-teaching-computers-without-computers/9498100

I hope they send more than one computer!

LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE!!!!!

All the posts, but especially this last one.

It felt wonderful to report a bunch of good stories for a change.

Baby chimpanzee takes scenic flight to new home after rescue from poachers

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An orphaned baby chimpanzee rescued from poachers in Africa has taken a scenic flight to its new home — sitting on the pilot's lap.

Chimpanzee Mussa even "helped" adjust the plane's throttle during the flight, rescue organisation Lwiro Primates in the Democratic Republic of Congo said.

"People ask me why I didn't put Mussa in a cage during the flight," pilot Anthony Caere posted on his Instagram page.

"A baby needs hugs and compassion instead of being locked up in a cage during a stressful flight."

Apart from intestinal parasites that are being treated, Mussa is doing very well, Lwiro Primates told Storyful.

You HAVE to watch the video!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-05/baby-chimp-takes-flight-to-new-home-after-rescue-from-poachers/9514952

The last male northern white rhino on the mend after infection threatened the species

The world's last male northern white rhino is recovering from an infected leg that raised fears over the past week he might have to be put down, a veterinarian at a conservancy in Kenya says.

Sudan lives with the last two females of the same species in Ol Pejeta Conservancy, about 250 kilometres north of Nairobi.

After all attempts at getting him to mate naturally failed, conservationists last year put Sudan on dating app Tinder, hoping to raise enough money to pay for a $11.5 million fertility treatment.

The 45-year-old had spent most of the past two weeks lying in his pen due to discomfort from a deep wound on his right hind leg.

His keepers had wondered whether it might be time to put him down.

But Stephen Ngulu, Ol Pejeta's veterinarian, said they had managed to bring the infection under control with painkillers and antibiotics and Sudan had regained his healthy appetite.

"He is an animal that is showing the will to live," Mr Ngulu told Reuters at the conservancy, as he struggled to walk in his pen while his companions Najin, 27, Fatu, 17, played in the mud a short distance away.

Scientists are now working to help Sudan reproduce via in-vitro fertilisation using eggs taken from Najin.

The embryo would be implanted in a surrogate southern white, Mr Ngulu said.

With the old male nearing the end of his life, Zachary Mutai, who has cared for him at Ol Pejeta for the past eight years, said the ravages of age were a source of sadness.

"Sudan is my great friend," he said.

"He's a very gentle rhino, people used to stroke him, people used to come very close to him, he's a very gentle one."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-08/worlds-last-male-northern-white-rhino-sudan-could-be-on-the-mend/9526632