Good News Thursday

Editor OGN Daily
May 8
4 min read

Some tasty bite-sized chunks of good news to perk up the day.

Full-Circle Rainbow

Photographed during a doors off helicopter flight over Iceland’s highlands at an altitude of approx. 300 metres – a rare spectacle. It was one of the more than 8,000 images that were submitted for consideration in the 2025 GDT (German Society for Nature Photography) Nature Photographer of the Year awards. Peter Schwager's magical full-circle rainbow was one of the winning entries. OGN will feature some more of the winners on Sunday.

Rewilding Illinois

Rewilding could be codified into state law this summer. This would empower the state’s Department of Natural Resources to harness rewilding as a “conservation strategy", including restoring land to its “natural state” and reintroducing apex predators and keystone species. In a vacuum of federal leadership, it would allow the state to push ahead with rewilding policies regardless - and offer a template for other states to do the same.

Rhino Recovery

Wildlife ACT, a non-profit organization specializing in endangered species conservation, has just announced that a second black rhino calf was born at Somkhanda Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, marking a significant milestone in conservation efforts. The calf's birth was confirmed through the use of strategically placed cameras used to record rhino behavior, revealing that it was born in December 2024 to one of the oldest females in the reserve. Thanks to persistent conservation efforts across Africa, black rhino numbers have doubled from their historic low 20 years ago to more than 6,000 today.

Ecocide Law

The global movement to enshrine the crime of ecocide in law has scored an important victory. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe endorsed a Convention which, if adopted and ratified by member states, would become “the first legally-binding international treaty to criminalise severe and large-scale environmental destruction”. The discussion around criminalising ecocide has been gathering pace over recent years, and Belgium, in early 2024, became the first European nation to make ecocide punishable at both national and international levels. "In order to fully protect nature, it is necessary that those that would wilfully destroy vast swathes of the natural world, in turn causing untold human harm, should be criminalised."

Shaguar

The 'Shaguar' used in all three Austin Powers films sold for $880k at Mecum Auctions. No other Jaguar E-Type was used in filming, making this the only vehicle from the film franchise which grossed a combined $675 million at the box office. Since filming, the car has resided in a private collection, occasionally making appearances for Jaguar corporate events as well as in Madonna's music video for Beautiful Stranger, in which actor Mike Myers drove the Jaguar.

Complete with the Union Jack paint scheme, the car is an unmistakable fixture of the classic James Bond spoof, but is indeed an authentic 1967 E-Type said to be an excellent condition and partially restored by Jaguar in the mid-2000s.

30 cases of Dum-Dum suckers outside a home's front door — Credit: Holly LaFavers | Facebook

How Many?

A Kentucky mom was in for a surprise when she found 70,000 suckers (that's lollipops for everyone on the European side of the Atlantic) on her front doorstep. Holly LaFavers, from Lexington, shared on Facebook that her adopted son Liam ordered 30 cases of Dum-Dum suckers off of Amazon while playing on her phone this weekend. She says she tried to stop the order before it came to her house, but it was too late. “My suckers are here!” Liam said to LaFavers when they arrived. “He told me that he wanted to have a carnival, and he was ordering the Dum-Dums as prizes for his carnival. Again, he was being friendly and being kind to his friends, but he’s just not able to think into the future and see what consequences would be,” said LaFavers. The cases, each with 2,340 suckers inside, retail for $130 each on Amazon. LaFavers posted on Facebook: "After a long day of working with the bank and talking to a few news stations, Amazon called and they are refunding my money!!! THANK YOU to everyone that offered to buy a box to help us. I will be happy to get you what you “ordered” or donate them to a charity of your choice."

"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice-president, and that one word is 'to be prepared'." Dan Quayle

On This Day

8 May 1945: Following Germany's unconditional surrender, World War II in Europe officially ended at midnight on this day in 1945, although the war in the Pacific continued until the Japanese surrender in September.