Sep 2

Just Good News Monday

What better way to start the week than with a global round up of positive news stories?

Olympic rings adorning the Eiffel Tower, Paris — Olympic rings adorning the Eiffel Tower to stay

Permanent Fixture

The Olympic rings adorning the Eiffel Tower for the Games will become a permanent fixture of France’s most famous monument, the mayor of Paris has announced. Anne Hidalgo said Paris had fallen in love with the Olympics and “I want the two to remain married”. She announced the current rings will first be taken down as they are deemed too heavy, and will be replaced with lighter versions. The city must also come up with a way to conceal the rings when the Eiffel Tower pays special tribute to causes that are not in line with the Olympic Committee’s strict policy on neutrality.

Bronze Battering Ram

In 241 B.C.E., two empires faced off in a naval clash off the coast of Sicily. By then, Rome and Carthage had been fighting for more than two decades. Rome’s victory in the skirmish, officially called the Battle of the Aegates, brought an end to the First Punic War, the initial conflict in a series of wars between the two ancient powers. Now, explorers have recovered a piece of that final battle: the bronze battering ram of an ancient warship, found on the seafloor off the western coast of Sicily. Though its features are difficult to make out because the object is covered in marine life, researchers have been able to discern a decoration on its front: a relief depicting a Montefortino-style Roman helmet decorated with three feathers.

Waterfall on the Una River, Croatia — Una River, Croatia

Europe’s ‘Blue Heart’

Plans to dam one of Europe’s last wild rivers have been blocked in a major win for people power. A scandal over the construction of a hydroelectric plant at the source of the Una River erupted last month in Croatia. Communities and environmental groups protested against the project, while lawyers argued that the dam was built without the correct permits. The Croatian state authorities have now ordered construction of the dam to halt, saving a wild river that has been dubbed the “blue heart of Europe”.

Red-billed chough perched on a rock — Red-billed chough.

“Chough-ed” Conservationists

Conservationists are “chough-ed” to bits after a red-billed bird that nearly went extinct in the UK had a record breeding season. The chough vanished from Cornwall half a century ago, but returned to the English county in 2001, where it’s just had a record breeding season with 108 chicks raised. The increase in population follows more than two decades of conservation work to protect chough nesting sites in Cornwall. “From near extinction to a record year - this is conservation at its best,” said the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

South Korea People Power

South Korea’s lack of a plan to reduce emissions violates the constitutional rights of future generations, the country’s top court has ruled. After four years of legal wrangling, the court said that the absence of legally binding targets to cut emissions between 2031 and 2049 breached the constitutional rights of future generations. It’s the first such climate litigation ruling in Asia. Activists believe that it could set a precedent for future climate-related legal actions in the region.

Ikea Preowned

Ikea has announced the start of a secondhand marketplace pilot in Oslo, Norway, and Madrid, Spain. If successful, the resale program, called 'Ikea preowned', will be rolled out worldwide. The company said it’s “part of a broader range of efforts by Ikea to reduce resource use and transition to a circular business. Every year millions of good, functional secondhand furniture are thrown away,” the website reads. “By keeping Ikea furniture out of landfills and finding them new homes instead, we hope to encourage to reduce waste and prolong the life of our products.”

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” Mother Teresa

On This Day

Calendar depicting the month of September

2 September 1752: Last Julian calendar day in Great Britain and British colonies including America. To sync to the Gregorian calendar, 11 days are skipped and the next date is 14 September.