海角大神

Today鈥檚 five selected stories cover the fear underlying anti-Semitism, how American vets are stopping gun suicides, a review of worldwide progress in 2019, perspectives on 2050 by sci-fi writers, and a film about one man鈥檚 moral stand against Hitler. But first, let鈥檚 look at generosity amid the flames in Australia.聽

A koala is not a cuddly animal. It has sharp claws. It鈥檚 shy, and can be irascible with humans.聽

That鈥檚 what makes Anna Heusler鈥檚 good Samaritan encounter with one of Australia鈥檚 iconic marsupials so surprising. Last week, she was cycling near Adelaide and stopped to help a koala in the road. After guzzling one water bottle, 聽for more, and she gently obliged.聽

Ms. Heusler鈥檚 compassionate act went viral. But it鈥檚 also a sign of desperation. Thirteen people and thousands of koalas have died in wildfires over the past three months. On Tuesday, about 4,000 people were forced to evacuate to beaches in Victoria and New South Wales. The military deployed helicopters and vessels to help. As Australia faces one of the worst droughts on record, its firefighters 鈥� 90% volunteers 鈥� have valiantly fought hundreds of fires. After weeks of calls for compensation, .

But Aussie citizens have generously stepped up. Some towns canceled New Year鈥檚 Eve fireworks and donated the funds to fight the fires. Restaurants and stores are giving a percentage of sales to firefighters. A GoFundMe campaign to raise $25,000 for koala water stations has .

While firefighter Lucy Baranowski and her husband battled blazes, friends bought Christmas gifts for their four children. The 鈥�, financial, food, drink, for our brigade...,鈥� she writes on Facebook, 鈥渋s extremely humbling, and it isn鈥檛 slowing down.鈥澛�

In New South Wales, bushfires have destroyed nearly 1,000 buildings, and about 30% of the koala habitat. But Ms. Baranowksi says local fire crews just found a tired koala mom with a baby clinging to her back. Amid the devastation, she calls it 鈥渁 bright spark of hope.鈥�