What better way to start the week than with an uplifting bundle of positive news nuggets?
Common Sense Prevails
Sport, so focused on winning and losing, on rules and competition, can bring a reductive clarity to the complexities of life. Perhaps that is why the judgement of the World Athletics Council was so momentous. Put simply, council president Sebastian Coe had to choose between conflicting “rights” and he decided that the right of those born women to compete fairly trumps the desire to be included in elite sport of those who have gone through male puberty but run or jump as women. “We felt,” he said, “that having transgender athletes competing at elite level would actually compromise the integrity of female competition.”
Shroom Boom
A slew of rainstorms walloping California throughout the winter created the ideal conditions for mushrooms to thrive. Experts are calling it a once-in-a-generation shroom boom, with highly saturated soils extending the mushroom season far past its usual peak of January and February. That’s brought enthusiasts in droves to forage mushrooms for cooking and medicinal uses, and given researchers a rare opportunity to survey the breadth of fungal diversity that is usually hidden underground.
Easter Cat
The annual Cadbury Bunny Tryouts are over, and a new top rabbit has been crowned. For the first time, a feline won the contest, making Crash the first kitty to serve as the famous Cadbury Bunny. Crash, an 8-year-old one-eyed rescue cat from Boise, Idaho, earned the honor after receiving "an impressive number of votes" from animal lovers across the country, according to Cadbury. As the winner of the tryouts, Crash will receive $5,000 for himself and a shelter of his choice as well as a starring role in Cadbury's Clucking Bunny commercial.
Remarkable Effort
More than 97 percent of people worldwide now have some level of immunity against Covid-19, either from infection or vaccination, or a combination of the two. Over 5.5 billion people, almost 70 percent of humanity, has been vaccinated, easily the largest, fastest and most successful campaign in the history of global public health, says ThinkGlobalHealth.
London Beavers
Beavers will return to London for the first time in 400 years after receiving funding from the capital’s mayor. A breeding pair of Eurasian beavers could arrive at their new home in Paradise Fields, Ealing, as soon as this autumn - the first reintroduction site in an urban setting in the UK. Dr Sean McCormack, vet and chair of the Ealing Wildlife Group, said: “Many people assume beavers are a wilderness species, when in fact we’ve just forgotten how closely we used to live alongside them."
Right to Repair
The European Commission has laid out another piece of its Circular Economy Action Plan - adopting a proposal to set common EU rules which are intended to make it easier for consumers to get faulty products repaired. The “right to repair” measures are aimed at reducing e-waste by preventing repairable products from being prematurely junked. The measures include a new consumer right to repair both for products that are under guarantee and those no longer covered by a legal guarantee.
RR Boat Tail
Costing £20 million ($24.5), the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail is the most expensive new car in the world. Each one (it’s a series of three) is crafted specifically for its owner, full of hand-built this and unique that. It’s certainly an eye-catching shape, not to mention size; at 5.8 metres (19ft) long it’s among the biggest cars on the road. There’s some real practicality among all that ostentatious swagger though - it has a built-in picnic table. It's aimed at squillionaires. So, if that includes you, you can start planning your next picnic.
“The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.” Maureen Dowd
On this Day
27 March 47 BCE: The legendary Cleopatra, aided by her Roman lover Julius Caesar, was reinstated as co-ruler of Egypt (with her brother Ptolemy XIV).
Florida's Rights of Nature
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From the Archives
Mood Booster
Gorillas recount their story of the day they met David Attenborough.