Mid week collection of uplifting news snippets.
England's towns and cities are making room for alfresco dining. Temporary road closures and pavement widening will help restaurants, bars and pubs to reopen outdoors from 12 April.
A greener Paris: More details are emerging about the £225 million Paris 'face lift'.
In what sounds suspiciously like an early April Fools joke, Volkswagen will rename its US operations "Voltswagen of America" to signify its shift to electric cars. Except, we are not trying to pull your leg, but VW might be. The shift will purportedly see future EVs from the automaker wear the name on the exterior of the car, while cars without an electric powertrain will simply wear the "VW" badge.
Villagers in southern India decided to go without light for 45 days rather than disturb a bird (the common Indian Robin) that had nested in the village's main lighting switchboard. The nest and its inhabitants were first discovered by Karuppu Raja, the man tasked with turning on the streetlights each evening. A lifelong bird lover, Raja posted his find to local social media to alert the citizens of his discovery and ask for their cooperation in taking a hands-off approach to the unexpected temporary guests. They all agreed.
Good news for Ohio as a federal judge blocks new oil and gas leasing and fracking in Wayne National Forest, a popular destination for outdoor recreation and the only National Forest located in the vast state. The ruling rebuked the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management for failing to consider threats to public health and endangered species.
Max Woosey, who's 11 and from Devon, has been sleeping in a tent for a year to raise money for a charity. Over the weekend, he inspired around 1,000 other children, who took part in his "big camp-out". He has also raised more than half a million pounds for North Devon hospice. Outstanding!
Nasal spray kills covid: ‘Life-saving’ nose spray that kills 99.9 percent of viruses in 2 minutes begins production in Israel.
Following the very good news for Canada's ambitions to reach net-zero by 2050 in a recent Supreme Court ruling, the Canadian government has now said that it will invest $2.75 billion to help public transit and school buses switch to electric power over the next five years. The funding is part of an eight year $14.9 billion public transit investment recently outlined by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The rock group, Coldplay, is sponsoring the newest ‘Interceptor’, one of the semi-autonomous water craft developed by The Ocean Cleanup to extract plastic from rivers before it enters the ocean. It's a very clever strategy, pioneered by a Dutch inventor, as reported by OGN last October.
Pupils in Wales are to be taught about racism and the contributions that black, Asian and minority ethnic communities have made to society, the government announced this week. Angel Ezeadum, member of UK Youth Parliament for Cardiff, said: “If we want a society which is better for all, where there’s equality, and there’s fair representation, then we need this. It’s massive in terms of shaping who young people are going to be in the future.”
Electric plane readies for take off: First all-electric Norwegian 11-seat commuter aircraft to hit the skies in 2025.
6-year-old Daphne Kenny was shopping with her mum, Danica, at a supermarket in Sacramento when she found an envelope lying on one of the shelves. Her mother thought it was someone's grocery list but there was a surprise inside. "It was a note that said, 'Whoever finds this, I love you,' with a hundred dollar bill," Danica told CNN. She let her daughter spend it all, and Danica hopes the experience will serve as a good example for her daughter, adding: "I hope it makes her think how her actions can affect other people and that even something small can make somebody happy”.
America's two main coronavirus vaccines - Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna - successfully prevent 90 percent of infections after full vaccination, according to a new study shared on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's official website. These new results serve as strong evidence that the primary vaccines can prevent all infections - including asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic ones - 90 percent of the time.
Italians: They're So Romantic. Enjoy this gorgeous flashmob wedding proposal in Trieste.