Bite sized chunks of positive news to brighten the day.
Six fragments of wall frescoes stolen from the ruins of ancient Roman villas have been returned to Pompeii’s archaeological park, after an investigation by Italy’s cultural protection police. Three of the relics, which date back to the first century AD, are believed to have been cut off the walls of two Roman villas in Stabiae in the 1970s before being exported illegally. One of the frescoes features a cherub playing a flute (pictured).
Another vaccine is on the way: GlaxoSmithKline has unveiled positive interim results from mid-stage trials of a Covid-19 vaccine it's developing with the Canadian biotech firm Medicago, a day after releasing strong data from its vaccine collaboration with the French drugmaker Sanofi.
Meanwhile, Indian riders deliver oxygen and groceries to help fight Covid-19: Whether on bikes or auto-rickshaws, volunteers across India are turning up armed with oxygen cylinders and groceries. One group of cyclists, Relief Riders, has expanded across eight cities including Mumbai and Chennai, and uses algorithms to match delivery requests with a nearby volunteer.
Bloomberg reports that high finance may have just shifted into a new era. Green bond sales and loans this year are outpacing new fossil finance activity for the first time since the Paris Agreement was announced at the end of 2015. The transformation in the capital markets indicates that the world’s largest banks may finally be getting behind the movement towards a low-carbon future. It also a sign that financial giants are seeing an advantage to green projects from a profit-and-loss standpoint.
Shakespeare’s Globe: If you can’t get into the Wooden O for its new summer season, the good news is that most of the shows are being streamed. There’s a revival of the carnivalesque 2019 Midsummer Night’s Dream and director Ola Ince’s eagerly awaited Romeo and Juliet. Plus, the Globe Player has heaps of past productions to rent, including an international selection from the 2012 Globe to Globe festival. There's also the candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse’s opening production, The Duchess of Malfi, starring Gemma Arterton.
An area greater than the land mass of Russia has been added to the world’s network of national parks and conservation areas since 2010, amid growing efforts to protect nature. As of today, about 17 percent of global land and inland water ecosystems and 8 percent of marine areas are within formal protected areas, with the total coverage increasing by 42 percent since the beginning of the last decade, according to the UN. The next target is 30 percent. Under the 30x30 initiative, more than 50 countries have committed to protect almost a third of the planet by 2030.
A licence has been approved for a one-day Glastonbury event in September. Mendip council give green light to 50,000-capacity show, but with no overnight camping. The licence allows for up to 50,000 attendees, who will not be able to camp overnight. Glastonbury organisers did not provide information on the lineup, ticketing, or the intended capacity, but organiser Emily Eavis told the NME this week that the event would be called Equinox. But today, if you wish, you can watch Virtual Glastonbury in what they're calling 'one continuous wild night.'
America's best selling pickup truck has had an electric revamp. Ford unveiled its F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup truck on last week, and its starting price sits nicely right below $40,000. In order to keep the beloved truck as popular as its gas counterpart (which sold 900,000 units in 2019), Ford had its work cut out. First reports are that they've kept everything up to par. The good news will be if their millions of fans switch from gas-guzzlers to all-electric.
Tomorrow: OGN will be publishing it's first Sunday Magazine, with a great selection of uplifting articles and some awesome videos. Don't miss it.
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Funny talking animals
Short film combines comedy voice over with a series of fabulous clips of animals. It's laugh out loud stuff and guaranteed to perk up your day.
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