Fab Friday News
- 5 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Celebrating the end of the week with a global round up of positive news nuggets.
Doing Good
Billionaire philanthropist Mackenzie Scott’s philanthropy on the African continent has now surpassed $1.5 billion. Scott’s funding in Africa increased in 2025, and now rivals the annual budgets of some of the world’s largest development banks for investment on the continent. Reporting by Inside Philanthropy shows that 38 percent of Scott’s 2025 grants overall went to internationally focused organisations and suggested that the spread of Scott’s Africa grants in 2025 appear to be in response to USAID cuts that ripped through nonprofits working in the continent. Globally, over recent years, Scott (former wife of Jeff Bezos) has given over $26 billion to more than 2,700 nonprofits. Based on public announcements, Scott is already nearing the total lifetime philanthropy from fellow billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Scott is among the list of wealthy names on the Giving Pledge, a voluntary promise to give up their fortunes.
Need to Cool Down?
There’s no denying that it’s been a hot summer so, if you need a new way to cool off, allow us to suggest the annual Beluga Cam - showing the canaries of the sea on their summer vacation in Canada. Roughly 57,000 beluga whales (about one third of the world's population) migrate to southern Canadian waters during the ice-free summer months. These white whales travel to the Churchill River, which then flows into Hudson Bay. While there, they feed, molt, and give birth to their calves in the safety of the shallow waters. Why not experience a bit of the beluga’s world and immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of their aquatic lives through these wonderful live cams.
Original Rough Draft
In 1776, the Declaration of Independence proved that words can change the world. But these words themselves, subject to scrutiny and revisions as the Founders pored over early editions of this all-important document, often changed too. Phrases were tweaked, statements were replaced and ideas were added and crossed-out. Now, a new exhibit at the Library of Congress is offering the public the chance to see how history was written - and edited. The Declaration’s Promise: A Revolutionary Idea displays Thomas Jefferson’s rare original copy of the Declaration of Independence alongside 120 other primary documents - including books, newspaper clippings and political cartoons - that contributed to the birth of the nation.
Coral Reef Good News
For years, the conversation around coral reefs has been threaded with grief. With bleaching events and rising ocean temperatures, reefs have become a kind of shorthand for what we stand to lose. A new global analysis is pushing back on that, and not with vague optimism, but with coordinates. Researchers have identified approximately 64,000 square miles (166,000 sq. km) of coral reefs, across 71 countries, capable of surviving and recovering from climate change, a figure three times larger than previous estimates. “Coral reefs are often framed as ecosystems beyond saving,” said Emily Darling, director of coral conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society and one of the report’s authors. “This research shows otherwise: we know where the hope is, and what we need now is political will.”
Attaché With a View
Major Martin Manhoff spent more than two years in the Soviet Union in the early 1950s, serving as assistant army attaché at the U.S. Embassy, which was located just off Red Square at the beginning of his time in Moscow. He took full advantage of his post, using his gifted photographic eye to capture hundreds of images of everyday life in Moscow and across the U.S.S.R. He took the images back to the U.S. where they lay forgotten in cardboard boxes in a former auto body shop - until now. The Manhoff Archive has recently been placed online for anyone who is interested, to view.
Boon For Farmers
Up to 40 percent of food produced in Africa is lost between harvest and market. Not from drought or pest damage, but from the absence of one thing: refrigeration. But the good news is that this wastage problem has been significantly reduced, as the early numbers from solar-powered cold storage are hard to argue with. Provider Soko Fresh reports cutting spoilage rates from as high as 50 percent to under two percent. Farmers using the service earn up to 50 percent more per kilogram of produce. In a sector where margins are thin and infrastructure failures are routine, that’s not a small shift. Cold chains, the network of refrigerated storage, transport, and handling that keeps food fresh from farm to market, are well established elsewhere in the world. But in Africa, electricity is unreliable and generators are expensive. So, solar-powered cold storage is offering the way ahead. “Cold storage remains one of the missing links in Africa’s agricultural value chains,” says Emmanuel Aziebor of a nonprofit supporting energy-efficient appliance deployment. “When farmers can store produce for longer, they gain access to better markets, reduce waste and increase incomes.”
“A flower blooming in the desert proves to the world that adversity, no matter how great, can be overcome.” Matshona Dhliwayo
On This Day
17 July 1717: George Frideric Handel’s Water Music premiered on the River Thames as part of a lavish royal event hosted by King George I. A barge carrying 50 musicians cruised alongside the royal vessel, playing the suites continuously, with the King enjoying the performance so much he ordered it repeated multiple times. The flotilla included a plethora of immensely decorated barges, boats filled with spectators, as well as a firework show after the performance.
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