Good News Worth Celebrating
- Editor OGN Daily
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
A global synopsis of the top good news stories from last week.
Health & Wellbeing
Minority Students: Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott - former wife of Amazon's Jeff Bezos - just donated $70m to the UNCF, the largest private provider of scholarships to minority students, to help strengthen all 37 of its historically Black colleges and universities. Over the past five years, MacKenzie Scott has given over $19 billion in unrestricted gifts to more than 2,000 organizations.
Child Marriage Ban: Bolivia becomes the 14th Latin American country to outlaw child marriage, reports Save the Children.
London's Air: Air pollution in London fell to within the legal limit for the first time in 2024, new government data suggests. As recently as 2019, experts said that it would take 193 years to hit the target without decisive action, but “London’s success demonstrates the power of bold, evidence-based interventions to deliver cleaner air.”
Caribbean Agreement: An historic EU-style free movement agreement has come into force in four Caribbean countries, in a deal which officials hope will stem the flow of skilled professionals leaving the region for North America and Europe. The agreement is between Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Conservation & Wildlife
Duck Stamps: The US Interior Department has approved $54 million to protect waterfowl habitat and expand four national wildlife refuges, thanks to the sale of 'Duck Stamps', one of America’s most durable conservation engines. USFWS says that since 1934 they’ve raised $1.3 billion to protect more than six million acres of habitat.
Conservation Success: The return of the white-tailed eagle to the UK has been hailed as “one of the greatest comeback stories” in the country’s natural history.
New Park in Nepal: Nepal has announced the establishment of its 13th national park. The Chhayanath National Park will protect alpine forests, rivers, and snow leopard range across 620 square miles and helps Nepal’s push to put 30 percent of its land under protection by 2030.
Chunk Wins: After around 1.5 million public votes were cast, Katmai national park and preserve in Alaska has announced the winner of its “biggest Fat Bear Week yet”. 32 Chunk, won the fatness competition. “A fat bear means a successful bear,” says a Katmai park ranger. “A fat bear means that bear is more likely to survive hibernation.”
Ethology: A new study into the behaviour of chimps lends support to the so called ‘drunken monkey’ hypothesis and may explain why people like to enjoy a drink or two. The good news is that we can (perhaps) blame our attraction to alcohol on deep evolutionary roots that date back tens of millions of years.
Climate & Environment
EU High-Speed Rail: A giant drill just broke through a section of rock to complete a tunnel connecting Austria to Italy 1,400 m (4,600 ft) under the Alps, marking a major milestone in a series of ambitious European Union infrastructure projects that will radically speed up passenger train travel between city centres and shift freight off the roads and onto more environmentally friendly rails. Eventually, it will run from Helsinki in Finland to Palermo in Sicily.
Tree Resilience: The biggest trees in the Amazon are growing larger and more numerous, according to a new study. Scientists said the paper was welcome confirmation that big trees are proving more climate resilient than previously believed, and undisturbed tropical vegetation continues to act as an effective carbon sink despite rising temperatures and strong droughts.
MycoToilet: It's the world’s first mushroom-powered toilet. They don't smell or use any water and convert human waste into compost. It uses mycelia (fungi’s root network) to convert human waste into compost, is wheelchair-accessible, and requires just four maintenance visits a year.
India Emissions Drop: According to Carbon Brief, India’s power-sector emissions dropped in the first half of 2025. With vast amounts of clean energy capacity under construction or contracted, analysts say the sector could now peak before 2030. That milestone would mark an important new trajectory from the world’s third-largest emitter.
Leading US States: Texas and California added more clean power capacity in 2024 than the next 30 US states combined. In California, two Bay Area refineries are closing as demand for gasoline falls into permanent decline. Together, the trends show America’s largest energy economies driving a decisive shift from fossil fuels to renewables, says CleanTechnica.
Also Today
It's Been a Great Week For Pop Culture: Birthday celebrations for 1960s and 70s hit shows and news of the auction of the 'Mona Lisa of Pop'.