According to a report released last week by Atlas of Giving, during 2011, Americans gave a total of nearly $347 billion to charity. This total is a  a 7.5% increase comparing to 2010.

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A North Texas police department decided to hand out gift cards to good drivers and by that reward good traffic habits. The police officers are pulling over good drivers and instead of a ticket giving them a $10 gift card.

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A girl from Indonesia, who was swept away in the Indian Ocean tsunami 7 years ago,  tracked her parents, who had long lost hope of finding her alive last week.

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A secret Santa handed $100 bills to people he thought needed some extra help at Christmastime. The secret Santa is estimated to give away $20,000 of his own money.

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Few internet service providers such as Cox, Charter, Time Warner Cable and others will offer $9.95 monthly broadband service to households eligible for aid. Refurbished PC’s and Laptops will sell for $150.

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Since of last Friday female members of the British royal family are granted the same rights as males to ascend to the British throne. This changes a 300 years rule stating that first-born sons inherit the throne. The only way for a woman to ascend to the throne had been if the previous monarch had no sons.

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At the beginning of the week, Fauja Singh, a 100 year old marathoner , finished Toronto race and became the oldest man to complete a full distance marathon.

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On Sunday, Saudi King Abdullah,  granted women in his country the voting right and the right to  run in municipal elections.  This is an historic first for the ultra-conservative country where women are subjected to many restrictions.

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August of this year is the first month since the US-led invasion in 2003 that no US soldiers were killed in Iraq. The data is displayed by  icasualties.org,  which tracks US fatalities in Iraq every month.

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according to Statistics Canada, Canada’s crime rate is the lowest since 1973, as the volume of crime dropped five per cent in 2010 from the year before.
The Crime Severity Index, which measures the severity of crime acts,  has also fallen six per cent and reached its lowest point  since 1998. Police reported about 7,200 fewer crime acts in 2010 than in the previous year.

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