Thursday's Upbeat News

Editor OGN Daily
12 hours ago
4 min read

An eclectic global round up of positive news stories to ensure it's a sunny day.

Exterior of the Getty Villa, Los Angeles

Getty Museum to Reopen

When California's devastating wildfires swept through the Los Angeles area in January, the Getty Villa survived a close call. While the museum's grounds caught fire, the structure remained intact. However, due to smoke damage and safety concerns, the Pacific Palisades museum, which houses a world-class collection of paintings and antiquities, has remained closed. Luckily, that is about to change, with the museum announcing its reopening scheduled for June 27. To celebrate, the museum is opening an exhibition with over 230 works of art and artifacts from the Mycenaean civilization. The Kingdom of Pylos: Warrior-Princes of Ancient Greece is the first major exhibition in North America to focus on the Mycenaean civilization. And there's more good news from LA...

LA Medical Debt

Los Angeles county is eliminating the medical debt of 134,820 residents, with no strings attached. There’s no application process - those chosen will simply receive a letter confirming that their debt has been taken care of, reports LAist. "This kind of debt often gets bundled and sold to debt collectors for pennies on the dollar who then go after families aggressively for the payment. But we asked ourselves, what if instead of collection agencies buying that debt, Los Angeles county bought that and what if instead of collecting it, we forgave it? And that's exactly what we've done. So keep an eye on your mailbox."

From left to right: Arabella Stanton, Dominic McLaughlin and Alastair Stout — Credit: Aidan Monaghan | HBO

New 'Harry Potter' Cast

The new HBO 'Harry Potter' TV series has revealed a trio of newcomers, after casting Dominic McLaughlin in the role of Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. It will begin filming for the series this summer, with a debut scheduled for next year. More than 30,000 actors from Ireland and the UK auditioned in HBO’s open casting call, announced last fall. The adaptation will be a decade-plus project, with each season covering a single book in JK Rowling's seven-book series. Warner Bros. has described the adaptation as faithful to the novels, with longer character arcs than the 2001-11 film adaptations. Rowling will serve as executive producer. 'Harry Potter' is the bestselling book series in history, with more than 600 million copies sold worldwide since the first book was released in 1997. The film franchise has grossed over $7.7 billion at the worldwide box office.

Band playing live on stage in a small theatre — Good news for smaller bands?

Concert Tickets

The FTC’s rule banning unfair and deceptive fees in America has gone into effect for live-events, forcing companies to show all-in pricing on their sites. Hidden fees, junk fees - whatever you want to call them - have been taking advantage of consumers for years, pressuring them to make quick decisions based on misleading prices. What looks like a fair deal at first often turns out to be much more expensive at checkout. The Biden administration, which kicked off the FTC’s rule, estimated in 2023 that Americans were losing $1 billion per year due to hidden fees. As all-in pricing creates the perception that tickets are more expensive, it could be good news for smaller bands as people try to make more budget-conscious decisions.

Circular Economy

The world's first large-scale facility for recycling polyester-cotton blends will be built in Saint-Avold, France, processing 70,000 tons annually by 2028. The company - a US fashion recycling startup called Circ - chose France over dozens of global sites, citing EU green industry support, financing incentives, and regulatory backing amid US clean-tech funding cuts under Trump. The plant will separate difficult-to-recycle fast fashion materials into reusable fibres, helping brands meet waste responsibilities, reports Bloomberg. "We see within the EU an incredible appetite for green-industry solutions and an ecosystem in the finance world that’s very supportive of industrial solutions like this that can scale," says Circ CEO.

EV Sales Accelerate

Electric vehicles will make up more than one-quarter of global car sales in 2025, according to the IEA. China dominates with 14 million sales, which alone surpasses total global EV sales from 2023. The first three months of this year have seen 35 percent year-over-year growth, signalling accelerating adoption despite regional policy variations. Emerging markets like Southeast Asia, Brazil, and India are now seeing growth rates of between 30-45 percent.

"If there is poetry in my book about the sea, it is not because I deliberately put it there, but because no one could write truthfully about the sea and leave out the poetry." Rachel Carson

On This Day

29 May 1953: Following numerous failed attempts by others, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to surmount Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.