Titanic Director travels to deepest part of sea (video)

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A marathon runner who will soon turn 101

Indian-born runner Fauja Singh, who became the oldest person to complete a marathon when he crossed the finish line at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon last year, plans to compete in the London Marathon on April 22. If he finishes, it will be his 11th, 42-kilometer race.

Singh started running when he was 81 as a way to fight depression after his son and daughter-in-law were killed in a car crash.

“His mental attitude is what inspires me to this day,” said Harmander Singh, who coaches the runner and is not related to the centenarian. “He was so mentally focused. If I said, ‘We’re going to do 10 kilometers today,’ he said, ‘Why not 20?’”

Fauja Singh was inspired after seeing the New York City Marathon on television and decided he wanted to be a part of it. He finished his first marathon at the age of 89. Since then, he has broken eight world records for his age group.

In India, Singh was a farmer for most of his life. He is illiterate and speaks only Punjabi. But that hasn’t limited his international exposure, or prevented him from being an inspiration to others.

On a recent trip back to India, Singh told the Times of India he wants to inspire young people and motivate them to “leap big in life.” But he said time is running out. “I am ready to go to any length to help youths before I die,” he told the newspaper.

Singh’s coach said as long as his trainee, a vegetarian, is moving, he’ll stay healthy.

“You can’t stop the guy running. Because the day he stops running will be the day his body will start deteriorating,” said Harmander Singh. “He said he would like to die running.”

Fauja Singh, with his long white beard, has become, in a sense, a man of steel. His trainer said recent blood tests showed the runner is as fit as a 40-year-old. And when London University tested his bone density, they found his left leg had the density of a 35-year-old, while his right leg had the bone density of a 25-year-old.

Singh’s trainer said youth and health are a state of mind.

“All people who reach a certain age, you will find what they have in common is they have a positive attitude in life,” he said. “They do not believe they are old. We do, but they don’t.”

• Interesting facts about his life

Fauja Singh was born in India on April 1, 1911.

Not much is known about his early life.

He cannot read or write.

He lived with his wife in his village in Jalandhar, and after her death he moved to London in 1992 to live with his son.

In London, he started running by challenging other old-agers to race him. Gradually he moved on to longer distances.

At 89 years, he took up running seriously and ended up in international marathon events.

Singh ran his first race, the London Marathon, in 2000.

According to his coach, he used to run up to 20 kilometres easily and wanted to run a marathon, thinking it to be just 26 kilometres and not 26 miles (42 kilometres). It was after he realised this that he began training seriously.

Singh shot to fame when, at the age of 89, he completed the gruelling 26.2 mile distance in 6 hours and 54 minutes. This knocked 58 minutes off the previous world best for anyone in the 90-plus age bracket.

Singh is 172 cm tall and weighs 52 kg. He attributes his physical fitness and longevity to abstaining from smoking and alcohol and to following a simple vegetarian diet.

BRIC's summit in India (video)

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Cuban dissident blogger

Yoanis Sanchez walks inside her home in Havana

Six questions and 4 answers

How about matching them?

1. Reporter: How do you do your work without economic resources?

2. Reporter: How is the country preparing for Pope Benedict’s visit after several members of the Ladies in White (an opposition movement consisting of wives and female relatives of jailed dissidents) were detained?

3. Reporter: Reports say the Cuban minimum-wage is very low and you have said it’s expensive to have internet access. How do you do it? Do you receive any funding? What are the medium costs for the average Cuban to get internet access in a hotel and browse for few minutes each week?

4. Reporter: U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) will hold an event this Wednesday in Washington to show how the Internet and social networks operate in Cuba. Many believe it is difficult for Cubans to freely access unmonitored web pages. What can you tell us about that?

5. Reporter: What inspired you to start your blog 5 years ago?

6. Reporter: You're a well known Cuban citizen. How many European politicians have supported you?

Here's the interview without the questions.

As Pope Benedict prepares to visit Cuba next week, dissident blogger Yoanis Sanchez, who writes the "Generation Y" blog, says the trip is a good time to showcase the real situation in the island nation.

Even though Yoani Sánchez believes the visit will not have a major political impact, she says it will be a good opportunity because of the increased international attention that comes with a visit by the Pope.

In an exclusive interview, the Cuban blogger said Internet access is still a major problem on the island and explains how she manages to update her blog Generation Y and tweets current events, which has made her famous in the social media world.

Question number ___________________

Sánchez: For the ‘backyard’ Catholics, the ones on the island, it will be a good moment for them as they meet their pastor, a kind of jubilee for the community as the 400th anniversary of “Our Lady of Charity” approaches. But politically and socially it will not transcend beyond what happened during Pope John Paul’s (II) visit in 1998, which only had an impact on the public awareness. I think Benedict’s trip is more spiritual-focused.”

However, the island will experience days of international scrutiny, where many journalists, pilgrims and people from outside will come for the event. It’s a good opportunity to show them the real Cuba; to report what is actually happening. We will become a showcase, where activists, bloggers and Twitter users have the responsibility to show the real side of the country and not the official one.

Question number_____________________

Sánchez: From my experience, having access to information and technology are fundamental for a free country. A person who holds a flash memory and has access to at least a minute of internet can change his or her life. That makes that citizen more empowered, more aware of his rights, perhaps more likely to speak up because he doesn’t like what is happening. I think in order to help Cubans it is necessary to empower them technologically, so that they can become 21-century internet users. Because without it, we will not become more democratic; we will not be free.

Question number ____________________

Sánchez: I started an online blog five years ago called “Generación Y” (Generation Y) and one of the biggest problems I encounter every week is free internet access to update texts and pictures. It’s my little virtual space. The Cuban government does not allow average citizens to obtain a household internet connection and interact online. That is a privilege destined for foreign residents in our national territory, and for politically reliable people.

In my case, if I want to connect from a hotel the prices are astronomical, a click here and there have to be done fast because every minute that passes harms me economically. I do that once a week or every ten days.

I write several articles from my house and when I manage to get connected, I scheduled the posts to give the impression my blog is alive, although I'm not connected at that moment.

But other Cubans get online access in the early morning hours through accounts they buy in the black market, but that has many risks.

Question number ____________________

Sánchez: In my case, I try to take advantage of the all the time I'm not online to arrange texts and photos correctly, so when I finally get access to look around the web, I do it as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, many tourists who visit Cuba know our situation, mine and that of other bloggers. After spending a week or two in this country, they usually give us prepaid phone cards to use in a hotel. Our technological poverty doesn’t allow us to sustain those costs.

But thanks to the solidarity of many people in the world, we are able to have internet access. And also people who read our posts in other parts of the world, recharge our phones, which allow us to tweet. This is quite an interesting period on how Cubans have access to social networks.