Today's Good News

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Ensuring the week gets off to a bright start with today's global round up of positive news nuggets.

And The Winner Is...

Off the coast of Tonga, a rare white humpback whale swims closely alongside its mother. Photographer Jono Allen caught the extraordinary moment in a photograph that just earned top honours at the World Nature Photography Awards 2026. “Sharing this moment with Mãhina and her protective mother is a memory that will live with me forever,” Allen said in a statement. “It was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary days I have ever experienced in the ocean-and perhaps ever will. To be announced WorldNature Photographer of the Year through capturing this unique mother and calf bond has made what was already a truly life-changing encounter even more profound and humbling. I feel beyond honoured to receive this award.”

A lake and mountains in Gwynedd, Wales — Gwynedd, Wales

Nature Protection

A new law designed to reverse the loss of wildlife and better protect nature in Wales has been passed in the Senedd. It will lead to legally-binding targets on boosting biodiversity, similar to those already in place for tackling climate change. A new organisation is to be created too to hold the Welsh government and public bodies to account on their efforts to protect the environment. The plans have been in development ever since Brexit and environmental campaigners said seeing them get passed was a "significant milestone".

Time For a Facial

Michelangelo’s The Last Judgement is getting a cleansing facial, with restorers removing a chalky white film of salt that has accumulated - thanks to the nearly 25,000 people who pass through the Vatican Museums each day - over the towering Renaissance masterpiece since its last major renovation three decades ago. Restorers dip sheets of Japanese rice paper into distilled water and apply them to the fresco, and carefully wipe away the salt film. The cleaning operation is expected to be completed by Easter, and the public can continue to visit in the meantime, but will have to settle for a reproduction of The Last Judgment superimposed on a screen that covers the scaffolding. Originally, the work took over four years to complete between 1536 and 1541 (preparation of the altar wall began in 1535). Michelangelo began working on it 25 years after finishing the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and was nearly 67 at its completion.

Music Mentoring

Afrobeats star Tiwa Savage is giving the next generation of musicians the tools they need to make great music in an intimidating industry. Through Savage’s foundation, Boston's Berklee College of Music faculty will travel to Nigeria to work with 100 emerging musicians, tuition-free. It’s the first chance many of the participants will have to work with music professionals, hone their craft and learn how to break into the industry. Savage is a Berklee alum herself. Think of the music that may come from this!

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28th Success

In a big health win, Libya has become the latest nation to defeat trachoma, the world’s leading cause of infectious blindness. Describing the milestone as a “landmark victory for public health”, the World Health Organization said it was all the more remarkable given the instability in Libya. Libya is the 28th country validated by the WHO as having eliminated trachoma.

US Coal

During Donald Trump’s presidency, the US experienced the largest drop in coal-fired power capacity of any presidential term. According to Carbon Brief, the US’s ageing coal plants have been rendered uneconomic by cheaper gas and renewables. This follows research showing that renewables overtook coal as the world’s leading source of electricity for the first time last year, representing a “historic shift” in the global energy transition.

A LEGO Snoopy stretched out on his rooftop — Credit: LEGO

Tribute to Peanuts

LEGO has announced a new Peanuts-inspired set that lets fans build Snoopy’s iconic red doghouse. The charming 964-piece kit includes a brick-built Snoopy and a Woodstock figurine that can be posed to recreate moments from the beloved comic strip. The Peanuts: Snoopy’s Doghouse set joins the LEGO Ideas collection as a tribute to Charles M. Schulz’s timeless stories, which first debuted in 1950. Launching on June 1, the nostalgic and interactive build invites fans to stage the scene however they like - whether that’s Snoopy stretched out on his rooftop, or working at his LEGO typewriter.

"All your life, you will be faced with a choice. You can choose love or hate … I choose love." Johnny Cash

On This Day

2 March 1959: Ceremony to mark the start of construction of the Sydney Opera House at Bennelong Point in Sydney, Australia; estimates of $7m and four years to complete project balloon to $102m and 14 years.