A homeless, undocumented immigrant is being hailed as a hero, and given a residency permit, after saving a drowning woman in Rome.

Sobuj Khalifa, raced down the banks of the Tiber River when he saw the woman floating in the water. He called out to people on the Sublicio bridge to phone for help right before he dived in and pulled the woman to safety.

The Bangladeshi migrant, scraping by on $55 a week, selling roses in restaurants and umbrellas on the street, became an instant hero in the Eternal City. Rome's mayor called Khalifa to personally thank him for his heroism, and authorities gave him a one-year residency permit to stay in the city legally.

And the local lifesaving story is getting a lot of play across the Mideast and South Asia. Both Arab and Jewish media are highlighting the fact that a Muslim man saved the life of an Israeli woman living in Rome.

(READ more in the Telegraph)

Photo credits: State Police in Rome; and Gobbler, CC