A US police officer who was called out to arrest a family suspected of shoplifting instead bought them some food so they could have a decent Christmas dinner. Matt Lima was called to a food store in Somerset, Massachusetts, last month, a police statement said. Two women were reported not to be scanning all of their groceries. When questioned, the family said they had fallen upon hard times and could not afford to pay for all the food.

"If we can make our food pantries look like a grocery store" and give people a card to shop with as they would at any other place, then "we can keep dignity in people," Paul Juarez says.

A Brazilian woman enslaved as a maid from the age of eight for almost four decades and forced into marriage has been rescued in a rare crackdown on domestic slavery, officials said. The 46-year-old was found living in a small room in an apartment in Patos de Minas, in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais. She had worked for the family for most of her life without pay or any time off, according to labour inspectors.

Like most 12-year-olds, Ayaan and Mickey Naqvi love their family Christmas traditions, like making cookies and wrapping gifts. But most of all, they love decorating the Christmas tree with their family's heirloom ornaments. One day, as the Connecticut-based brothers were hanging their decorations, one of their favorite ornaments slipped off a branch and broke.

Tillie Dybing is a survivor. At the age of 107, the Minnesota woman recently beat Covid-19 after being diagnosed this fall, according to officials at the Ecumen Detroit Lakes community home, where she has lived since 2015.

Thomas Edelmann was born in Germany more than 25 years after the Allies defeated Hitler. Yet last year, following an unexpected marketing call, the 49-year-old businessman contacted a retired teacher in Israel to apologize for the actions of the grandfather he never met.

It's time to be kind. It's World Kindness Day today, Friday the 13th. Wait, is that a joke? Friday the 13th? Maybe it seems like there is no time to be kind. The world, however, seems to be crying out in pain. It's hungry and war-torn, with icebergs melting, animals going extinct and a pandemic killing thousands of people daily.

Beloved "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek died early Sunday morning at the age of 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Celebrities were quick to share their condolences and fond memories of the television icon. Ken Jennings, who holds the record for 74 straight wins on the show, shared a fun photo of himself and Trebek taking a selfie.

The musician Paul Heaton has been praised after the final editor of Q magazine revealed the singer’s “amazingly kind” gesture to staff after the music publication closed. Ted Kessler said Heaton, known for his work with the Housemartins and the Beautiful South, donated a “large sum” which was shared between more than 40 workers. “It really was the most amazingly kind, selfless, generous act,” Kessler tweeted. “For some, it meant a bill could be paid.”

A 5-year-old Pennsylvania boy is being hailed a hero after he used Amazon’s Alexa to call for help while his mother suffered an epileptic seizure. The child’s grandmother, Natalie Neal, says she programed the Alexa app with her phone number so that her grandson, Tyrion Spann, can call her anytime, PEOPLE reports. ″I just thought for, you know, him to tell me, ‘Hey grandmom, I love you. Hey Gigi, I love you,’″ Neal explained to ABC affiliate WPVI.

Shamsea Alizada’s story of persistence is a reminder of advances in girls’ education in Afghanistan — and their vulnerability as the government negotiates with the Taliban.

A dog has been credited with saving an Alabama family’s lives after his bark awakened them to a fire that was sweeping through their rental home early Tuesday morning. The dog, Ralph, “doesn’t usually make a sound at night,” said Derek Walker, who lived in the Birmingham home with his wife and two children, according to AL.com.

A Latino man survived World War II, graduated in college as a Top Honor in his class at the age of 96, and now the global pandemic. He is now Italy's oldest university graduate.

Joyce and Don Hoffman had been apart for a month after she came down with COVID-19 on May 1. It's the longest they'd ever been apart during their 67-year marriage.

When new physicians Cynthia Kudji and her daughter Jasmine Kudji checked their emails March 20, Match Day, they didn’t expect to set two records. That morning, the duo had both been placed at Louisiana State University Health to complete their residency training — one of the first times a mother and daughter matched with the same hospital after graduating from medical school at the same time.

A young girl with a big heart has found just the way to cheer up other kids stuck at home during the pandemic. Chelsea Phaire, a 10-year-old from Danbury, Connecticut, has sent more than 1,500 children in homeless shelters and foster care homes art kits to give them something uplifting to do when they're feeling down. The kits -- which include markers, crayons, paper, coloring books, colored pencils, and gel pens -- are sent to schools and shelters across the country as part of Chelsea's Charity, an organization founded by Chelsea and her parents.

When Jenny Marr turned 34 she decided it was time to start a family. The Dallas, Texas woman and her husband Chris wanted one child to complete their family of four - their third family member being their dog, Zeke. According to the Washington Post, Marr took a positive pregnancy test on October 6 and from there the couple counted down to the moment they'd be able to hear their baby's heart beat for the first time.

An elderly Welsh woman now living in the United States has spoken Welsh for the first time in 40 years after a lockdown social media appeal. Ray McDermott, 96, who is originally from Carmarthenshire but who has lived in the US for 70 years, was worried she would never speak it again. But Ray, of Ohio, has now been able to connect with Welsh speakers after her son, Keith, asked for help online.

Rose Gagnon says she hasn't been able to hug her family members for months – probably any grandmother's worst nightmare. The 85-year-old, who lives in Rockford, Illinois, usually sees her granddaughter and her kids every day. Due to social distancing guidelines, that has proven to be difficult.

After a devastating EF-4 tornado ripped through the heart of a Tennessee neighborhood, a lost dog who saved her family has finally been found -- 54 days later. On the night of March 3, around 1:15 a.m., Eric Johnson woke up to his miniature Australian shepherd, Bella, whimpering under the bed. Johnson said he knew something was not right.