Kenyan school children using slingshots to plant trees
Nairobi: School children in Kenya are helping to fight deforestation by planting seeds using slingshots. It’s part of an initiative by the company SeedBalls Kenya, which makes and sells seedballs globally. It encourages children to have slingshot competitions using the charcoal-covered seeds instead of stones. About 2 million seedballs have been planted in Kenya in the past year and a half in what has been called “guerrilla gardening.” Kenya’s government has recognized the threat from deforestation and earlier this year imposed a temporary logging ban that was extended in May by another six months. SeedBalls Kenya recycles coal dust it collects around the capital, Nairobi. It buys the seeds from the Kenya Forest Research Institute. (AP)
Robin Williams’ possessions being auctioned for charity
Los Angeles: Veteran actor Robin Williams’ personal belongings, movie memorabilia and art work are set to be auctioned in New York. The Sotheby’s auction confirmed that hundreds of items, including paintings by Banksy and up to 40 watches from the Oscar-winning actor’s personal collection will come under the hammer. They will be sold along items belonging to his second wife, the movie producer Marsha Garces Williams. According to the Hollywood Reporter, much of the proceeds from the auction will be going to charities the couple supported. Another collection item eligible for bidding includes a first edition of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in original printed wrappers with fine copies of the first English and first American editions. The editions are estimated to be auctioned for USD 1,500- USD 2,500. The copies reflect a moment in which Williams starred in the Mike Nichols’ production of Waiting for Godot at Lincoln Center with Steve Martin in 1988. Other items set to be auctioned also include the Hollywood Walk of Fame star presented to Williams in 1990, a white gold Tonneau-Form Minute Repeating Tourbillon wristwatch and a Gryffindor robe worn by Daniel Radcliffe in the 2001 film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The auction, scheduled to happen on October 4, will be preceded by an exhibition located at Sotheby’s auction house in New York and will open to the public on September 29. (PTI)