Kick starting the week with a global round up of good news nuggets to brighten the day.
Climbing Record
A Nepali sherpa has scaled Mount Everest for a record 26th time, breaking his own previous record set last year. Kami Rita Sherpa, 52, scaled the 8,849m mountain on Saturday and established a new world record in climbing. The route used by Kami Rita was pioneered by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepali sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and remains the most popular.
Thank You Frances
Frances Connolly, 55, became the EuroMillions lottery winner in 2019. She won £115 million, of which she has given away more than half. She agreed on a yearly charity budget with her husband, Patrick, but already spent up to 2032’s allocation. Mrs. Connolly said helping others "gives you a buzz and it's addictive." Asked by PA News about why she was happy to give so much away, she replied, "Why wouldn't you? I've done that all my life." The former social worker and teacher has set up two charitable foundations: one named after her late mother Kathleen Graham in her native Northern Ireland; the other, a PFC Trust which supports local young careers, elderly, and refugees in her home town.
Climate School
Stanford University will launch a new school focusing on climate change thanks to a $1.1 billion gift from billionaire venture capitalist John Doerr and his wife, Ann. The gift, one of the largest single donations to an American institute of higher education, will open the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability this fall. The school combines several existing Stanford departments and institutes and will hire dozens of new faculty members over a decade, as well as establish an accelerator to provide grants for new projects.
Caribou Guardians
An intensive caribou recovery effort by the Saulteau and West Moberly First Nations in British Columbia is bringing an endangered herd back from the brink. Starting in 2013, they began short term strategies including wolf reduction and maternal penning by 'caribou guardians.' The long term goal of having a federally protected habitat was achieved in February 2020 when the governments of the Saulteau and West Moberly First Nations and the Canadian government signed an agreement to preserve more than 3,000 square miles of caribou habitat in Central BC. “Caribou have always been there for us when we needed them,” says West Moberly Chief Roland Willson. “It’s time to be there for them.”
Obscure Word of the Day: Glabella - the flat area of bone between the eyebrows.
MAGAphone
In good news for those of us who are enjoying the relative peace and quiet, a US judge has dismissed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter that challenged his suspension from the platform. Judge James Donato in San Francisco rejected Trump’s argument that Twitter violated his right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the first amendment of the US constitution. At the time of removing Trump’s account permanently, Twitter said his tweets had violated the platform’s policy barring “glorification of violence”. Let's hope Elon Musk takes the same view.
Quote of the Day
"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier." Mother Teresa
On this Day
9 May 1922: The International Astronomical Union formally adopt Annie Jump Cannon's stellar classification system which, with only minor changes, is still used today.
Dive in Deeper
In 1999, 12-year-old Ayda Zugay and her older sister boarded a plane to America, fleeing the former Yugoslavia with barely anything to their name. Read on...
Musical Mood Booster
Enjoy North Koreans strutting their stuff to the Bee Gees. Who knows what Mad Vlad has planned for his military display in Moscow today, but he probably isn't planning on syncing it to Stayin' Alive. Shame!