OGN Monday
- Editor OGN Daily
- 14 hours ago
- 3 min read
Kick-starting the week with an eclectic bundle of positive news stories.
Time For Repairs
The West Highland Line, often hailed as one of the world's most scenic railways, is set for a £15 million upgrade and repair programme. This iconic Scottish route connects Glasgow to Oban, Fort William, and Mallaig, famously featuring the Glenfinnan Viaduct, seen in the Harry Potter films. Clearly, the Hogwarts Express has taken its toll on the line.
Rice Bonanza
Rice prices fall, and a record harvest looms. Favourable weather and decades of farming improvements mean the world is on track for its biggest rice crop in nearly two decades. Global production for 2025–26 is forecast at about 541 million tonnes, helping to push prices down to their lowest in 18 years, and easing food costs for billions of people, reports the Financial Times.
African Economies
Africa emerges from a decade of debt crises. For the first time in ten years, no African country is officially in debt distress. Mozambique was the last to exit after its borrowing costs eased. Debt burdens remain high and still weigh on growth, but the pressure is easing thanks to IMF-backed restructurings, falling inflation and renewed investor appetite.
'Highland Heather'
Electric conversions of classic cars have become quite popular, but two new firms hope they can still make a mark. U.K.-based Halcyon and Evice Technologies were founded by the same trio of engineers, with Evice focusing on electric powertrain hardware and Halcyon focusing on restomods of classic cars. Together, they plan to offer a limited run of 60 Rolls-Royce and Bentley models with electric powertrains and other modern tech. The first of those cars made its public debut over the weekend at the Concours of Elegance, Hampton Court Palace. It’s called 'Highland Heather' because of a purple paint job inspired by Scottish heather.
Global Solar Surge
In the first half of the year, the world added 380 GW of new solar capacity, a 64 percent jump from the first six months of 2024. It took until September last year to surpass 350 GW; in 2025 we crossed that threshold in June, says energy think-tank Ember.
New Heights
The SolarStratos aircraft, powered entirely by solar energy, has set a new altitude record for solar-electric planes by flying over the Alps, at over 8,000 metres, in a five-hour flight. The flight demonstrates the potential of lightweight photovoltaics and batteries for high-altitude aviation.
US Coal Declines
The US is on track to retire more coal capacity in 2025 than it did under the Biden administration last year, despite the efforts of the Trump White House. That’s according to analysis by Carbon Brief. In fact, US power growth is now almost entirely clean despite what you may read in the headlines. In July 2025, 99.7 percent of power capacity that came online was clean, reports Cleanview.
“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” Mother Teresa
On This Day
8 September 1966: The first episode of the sci-fi series Star Trek aired on American television.
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