Imtiaz Sooliman, a medical doctor practising in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, visited a Shaikh in Istanbul in 1992. The Sufi teacher gave him a message that would dramatically change the lives of countless people.

‘To my absolute astonishment he told me I would help people for the rest of my life. He then instructed me to form a humanitarian organisation called the “Gift of the Givers”, and repeated the phrase “the best among people are those who benefit mankind”.’

Almost 30 years later Gift of the Givers, Africa’s largest humanitarian and disaster agency, has a reputation for speedy responses to floods, war, famine, fires, tsunamis, kidnapping and earthquakes. Well known for their interventions in South African and international disasters, teams of volunteers have undertaken missions to places such as Bosnia, Palestine, Japan, Haiti, Indonesia, Malawi and Mozambique. In the last few years they have turned their attention to the poorest South Africans - they have put up hospitals, run clinics, dug wells, drilled boreholes, built houses, offered scholarships and provided shelter, food and psychological succour to millions.

Originally published in 2014, the book has been brought up to date to continue the extraordinary tale of an organisation that has become a South African legend – the first to intervene in so many devastating situations and bring hope to those who have lost everything. Gift of the Givers’ reputation for direct, honest and non-partisan solution-finding has become a beacon of hope in South Africa.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the NSRI, here is a collection of daring rescues filled with drama and danger. From burning ships to shark attacks, sinking trawlers to hallucinating fishermen, these are the stories of man’s constant battle with some of the most dangerous waters on earth. But there is one story in particular that gave rise to the creation of the NSRI...

On 12 April 1966, four fishing boats put out to sea from Stilbaai on South Africa’s southern coast. Soon they were all pulling in fish as fast as they could bait their hooks, and the boats were settling lower in the water. Shortly before sunset, skipper Gerhard Dreyer saw clouds building on the horizon. But the fishing was too good and they ignored the signs. Later that night a gale force wind slammed into them. ‘I told the men to throw everything overboard,’ Gerhard remembers. An hour before midnight, Gerhard headed for deeper water to try and ride out the swells. As dawn broke, they saw for the first time the true extent of the night’s damage: among the flotsam, one man in a lifebuoy. That man was the only crewman from the other three boats to survive the terrible storm. Seventeen men died that night.

Simonstown schoolteacher Patti Price was horrified when she read the news. She began a media campaign and appealed to the president of the Society of Master Mariners. As a direct result of her efforts, the South African Inshore Rescue Service was founded in August 1966 (renamed the National Sea Rescue Institute in 1967). Today, the NSRI has 35 rescue bases and over 1 000 volunteers.

Overcoming state fragility is one of the most important international development objectives of the 21st century. Many fragile states have turned into failed states, where millions of people are caught in deprivation and seemingly hopeless conditions. Fragile states lack the authority, legitimacy, and capacity that a modern state needs to advance the development of its peoples, and present deep challenges for the design and implementation of development policy. For instance, how is aid to be designed and delivered in a way that will help people in fragile states if their governments lack capacity to absorb and use aid? And what can be done about adverse side-effects of fragile states on their neighbours and the global community, such as heightened insecurity, rising out-migration, displaced populations, and the destruction of natural resources? This book documents the far reaching global repercussions of state fragility and provides a timely contribution to the international discourse on three dimensions of fragile states: their causes, costs, and the responses required. It will appeal to scholars, policymakers, and donors who are concerned about conflict and development. Its aim is to contribute to our understanding of how strong and accountable states can be fostered-states where government and civil society progressively advance human wellbeing, underpin households' resilience in the face of shocks, and form effective partnerships to maximize the benefits of development assistance.

The issue of human rights and its contemporary theory has drawn the attention of the author for a long period of time. Specifically, the rights of two groups of citizens of our planet that have existed next to one another for as long as the world has been turning a " the perpetrators of crimes and their victims. And, unfortunately, this will never change. To learn more about the author please visit his website at www.stanik.name and www.kosmas.cz. Also published by Zsolt StanA k (in English) are in printed form and available on www.amazon.co.uk: An Angel in Hell, Humour at its Best, Joy Till Death and I Forgive You One Sin on www.fast-print.net/bookshop: Farewell to Bad Times and I Forgive You One Sin on www.kosmas.cz: Ita s enough to drive you crazy (as an E-book)

Almost 7,000 fans eagerly packed into the Ringling Brothers big top on July 6, 1944. With a single careless act, an afternoon at the "Greatest Show on Earth" quickly became one of terror and tragedy as the paraffin-coated circus tent caught fire. Panicked crowds rushed for the few exits, but in minutes, the tent collapsed on those still struggling to escape below. A total of 168 lives were lost, many of them children, with many more injured and forever scarred by the events. Hartford and the surrounding communities reeled in the aftermath as investigators searched for the source of the fire and the responsible parties. Through firsthand accounts, interviews with survivors and a gripping collection of vintage photographs, author Michael Skidgell attempts to make sense of one of Hartford's worst tragedies.

'Today's questions regarding foreign aid centre around aid allocation dynamics, the impact on trade and growth for receivers as well as donors, and, quite frequently, on aid effectiveness. The inter-relationship between aid and politics are also topics of high interest. These are precisely the issues that the Handbook edited by B. Mak Arvin and Byron Lew deals with. In more than 30 contributions, some highly renowned development scholars use the theoretical state of the art combined with empirically based econometric approaches to analyse various issues in the foreign aid field. It is a great pleasure for science-oriented readers to find a wealth of findings derived from hard data and rigorous analytical methods. The book is an excellent contribution to the current foreign aid discussion.' - Siegfried Schoenherr, Ifo Institute for Economic Research, Germany 'A title like Handbook on the Economics of Foreign Aid is ambitious; it promises coverage of literature that spans from theory to empirics, from macro to micro levels of analysis, from positive to normative economics. This Handbook fulfills this ambition 100 percent. It will be the single place that people will go to get a state-of-the-art survey of a particular issue. Some chapters are written by established experts in the area, others by newcomers that bring a fresh view on the issues involved. All in all, a book that future researchers in foreign aid must consult.' - Pascalis Raimondos, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark It would be fair to say that foreign aid today is one of the most important factors in international relations and in the national economy of many countries - as well as one of the most researched fields in economics. Although much has been written on the subject of foreign aid, this book contributes by taking stock of knowledge in the field, with chapters summarizing long-standing debates as well as the latest advances. Several contributions provide new analytical insights or empirical evidence on different aspects of aid, including how aid may be linked to trade and the motives for aid giving. As a whole, the book demonstrates how researchers have dealt with increasingly complex issues over time - both theoretical and empirical - on the allocation, impact, and efficacy of aid, with aid policies placed at the center of the discussion. In addition to students, academics, researchers, and policymakers involved in development economics and foreign aid, this Handbook will appeal to all those interested in development issues and international policies. Contributors: E. Aguayo, E. Alvi, B.M. Arvin, S.A. Asongu, E. Bland, C. Boussalis, J. Brambila-Macias, S. Brown, R. Calleja, L. Chauvet, A. Das, H. Doucouliagos, V.Z. Eichenauer, G.S. Epstein, P. Exposito, S. Feeny, D. Fielding, I.N. Gang, F. Gibson, R. Gounder, P. Guillaumont, M.-C. Guisan, N. Hermes, P. Huhne, A.L. Islam, A. Isopi, S. Kablan, C. Kilby, A. Kumar, S. Lahiri, R. Lensink, B. Lew, I. Martinez-Zarzoso, I. Massa, G. Mavrotas, M. McGillivray, B. Meyer, K. Michaelowa, O. Morrissey, D. Mukherjee, P. Nunnenkamp, M. Paldam, C. Peiffer, R. Pradhan, M.G. Quibria, B. Reinsberg, D. Rowlands, M. Salois, J. Serieux, D. Sogge, S. Torrance, S. Tezanos Vazquez, L. Wagner