Positive News Thursday
- 10 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Today's smorgasbord of tasty bite-sized chunks of uplifting news.
'Transit'
The 2026 shortlist for the World Food Photography Awards sponsored by Bimi offers a vivid look at how food connects people across cultures and environments. Selected from thousands of entries submitted by photographers in more than 50 countries, the images reveal stories that extend far beyond the plate. The competition celebrates food in all its forms, with 27 categories ranging from growing and harvesting to cooking, sharing, and surviving. The image pictured above caught OGN's eye. The photographer says: "Use your imagination and you will see things differently. Then you might stick a toy airplane onto blue paper and use lots of biscuits to create a city. Lie down on the floor and take photos upwards through the glass. The photograph is part of my long-term project of surreal still lifes."
Perfume Capital
Even if you’ve never seen or heard about the town of Grasse in the South of France, there’s a good chance you’ve smelled it. A thousand jasmine flowers grown in Grasse go into every 1-ounce bottle of Chanel No. 5 perfume - cementing it as the perfume capital of the world. While synthetic fragrances are an increasingly large part of the fragrance world, an effort is underway to ensure Grasse’s gardens stay in full bloom and maintain the town’s status as an antidote to optimization. Jasmine starts flowering in May and flowers all summer until September. Honorine Blanc, a master perfumer for one of the largest fragrance companies, said: “For me, when I come to Grasse, it’s a place where I can slow down and smell the value of an ingredient. Because, you know, everything is speed, speed, speed, speed.”
Pompeii ‘Perfume Garden’: The restored 2,000 year old walled garden now features thousands of roses, violets, cherry trees and vines. Experts think a perfumer may have once used the plants to experiment with scents.
Royal Addition
There’s a new four-legged addition to the British royal family. Prince William and Princess Kate have just introduced their pup to the world - a chocolate cocker spaniel named Otto who recently turned 1.
Sunbed Saga
A German holidaymaker has won compensation from a tour operator because hotel guests “ignored rules on reserving sunbeds with towels”, said The Times. The unnamed man took his family on a package holiday to the Greek island of Kos, but they found that “even when they got up at 6am, most of the sunbeds had already been ‘taken’”. Hotel staff declined to intervene. A Hanover court ordered the tour operator to pay €986.70 for the “defective” package.
Is This The One?
Inside the converted Williamsburgh Savings Bank in Brooklyn - built in the 1870s, now the site of luxurious events - the Rolling Stones kept their fans wanting more. Earlier that day, the band confirmed that they will release a new record, titled Foreign Tongues in July, and dropped a new single called In The Stars. Journalists, VIPs and celebrities waited in the echoing hall to witness Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood’s first conversation about the new album. To celebrate, they invited comedian Conan O’Brien to host the exclusive announcement event. It was a hilarious choice. “I think this is the one, after years of toiling in obscurity,” he joked, minutes before the band joined him on stage. “This is their time.”
Ford's Skunkworks
Ford recently opened a “skunkworks” facility called 'EV Design Center' in Long Beach, CA, in order to accelerate EV development in the hopes of catching up with China, whose EV industry is rapidly taking over the globe. The Chinese auto industry is ascendant in this moment. Everyone knows it - including Ford CEO Jim Farley, who has been driving Chinese cars and visiting China, and finding himself “humbled” by what he sees. So, Ford decided to do something about it. Farley described it as "a Model T moment for us at Ford" as he announced a $5 billion investment into EV manufacturing last year, centered around the “Ford Universal EV Platform” which will allow low-cost production of several different electric vehicles, starting with a mid-size pickup at around $30,000. The Louisville production line that will build the Ford UEV is already being set up with an expected 2027 release.
“One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now.” Paulo Coelho
On This Day
7 May 1941: Glenn Miller records Chattanooga Choo Choo. The following year, RCA Records presented Miller with a gold-lacquered master disc of Chattanooga Choo Choo to celebrate sales exceeding 1.2 million copies. This marked the first time a recording was formally designated as a "gold record" to commemorate massive commercial success, acting as a pioneering publicity stunt 16 years before the RIAA began official certifications.
Today's Articles
Tales of Tunnels: Long-mythologised hidden tunnels underneath a Cotswolds village turned out to be true.
Brain Boosters: Forgetfulness isn't inevitable says this professor, and recommends 6 ways to super-charge your mid-life brain.
Mood Boosting Video
Kylie: Trailer for a documentary series, coming to Netflix on 20 May.