Kick starting the weekend with a collection of positive news snippets.
It’s a truth, universally acknowledged, that if we see a picture of a model/celebrity looking amazing in a bikini we want to know how they achieved such bodily perfection. So when actress Salma Hayek, 54, admitted to Entertainment Tonight earlier this week that her recent run of bikini selfies were actually taken at the end of last year when she was dieting and exercising like mad, women everywhere rejoiced at her honesty. Thank you Salma for telling the truth!
It took Apple 42 years to reach a $1 trillion valuation but just two more years to break the $2 trillion mark (achieved in August 2020). The Cupertino-based giant, could hit a $3 trillion (£2.17 trillion) valuation for the first time should it finalise a deal to build its own electric car.
Hopefully you've never heard of it or experienced it, but the good news is that the world’s most infamous phishing racket, the Emotet malware network, has been taken down by police - sparing people around the globe a fortune in data-theft and computer, software, and network maintenance fees. In what was the cyber-equivalent of a massive international police raid, the governments of the US, UK, Canada, Lithuania, Holland, France, Ukraine, and Germany all participated in the bust.
Johnson & Johnson has asked the FDA to approve world’s first single-dose Covid vaccine. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which are now being distributed in the US, are administered as two doses, and the Pfizer vaccine must be stored in ultra-cold storage. However, the J&J vaccine can be given in a single dose and stored in regular refrigerators, meaning it will be easier to distribute, especially in rural areas.
Denmark's Artificial Energy Island: The Danish government has agreed to take a majority stake in a £25bn ($33.5bn) artificial “energy island”, which is to be built in the middle of the North Sea. The 10GW generated will produce far, far more clean energy than the country can use, so it's part of a strategy to help other countries meet their climate targets too. Nice!
'Food for the spirit': French 106-year-old pianist to release sixth album. Colette Maze says she began playing the piano when she was four years old. Today, at the age of 106, her playing still exudes great tenderness and sitting at the piano ... 'It's my food, my food for the spirit and for the heart'. She credits yoga and finger gymnastics for keeping her nimble, and she's just recorded her sixth album: a three volume recording of works by Debussy, slated to be released in April.
Sleep Date Night: Many of us are having trouble sleeping in these turbulent times, so why not try this good idea...
There was some rare positive news regarding Brit’s finances this week, as it emerged that UK households paid off a record £16bn of debt in 2020. The figures released by the Bank of England showed the extent to which some people are using the pandemic to squirrel away money and pay off credit cards and loans.
Congratulations to English cricket captain, Joe Root, for scoring a century on his 100th Test, yesterday in India. Amazingly, it was also his third consecutive century. The man's on fire!
Covid has closed workplaces and the luckiest among us may never be forced to return to an office again. That’s an intriguing option for people who can suddenly log in from anywhere, and America's most storied and shiny RV brand, Airstream, is seizing the moment with a brand-new trailer optimized for working on the go.
Enjoy this amazing flash mob performance of Beethoven's beautiful Ode to Joy. All started by one little girl in Spain.