Good News Monday
Ensuring the week gets off to a bright start with today's global collection of upbeat news stories.
Buffett's Billions
Warren Buffett has stepped down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, with his eldest son, Howard Buffett, succeeding him. The 96-year-old investor will serve as chairman emeritus and a board member of the conglomerate he led for over six decades. Buffett began buying shares of Berkshire Hathaway, then a struggling textile manufacturer, in 1962. He became its chairman and CEO in 1970 and turned it into an investment holding company. In 2024, Berkshire Hathaway became the first US non-tech company valued at more than $1 trillion. Buffett has donated roughly $66 billion worth of stock to charity since 2006, and his three children are responsible for distributing the remainder of his roughly $150 billion fortune by the end of 2034.
Some Good Numbers
50M: Homes US solar capacity can now power, representing over one-third of all households nationwide.
7M: Estimated lives a new blockbuster tuberculosis vaccine could save by 2050.
230K: Students pursuing higher education in Zambia, a doubling since 2019.
Kids Social Media Ban
The European Union (EU) has announced plans to ban social media for under-13s in a move welcomed by child safety campaigners. “Many perceive the power of big tech as overwhelming and impossible to roll back. I disagree; we do not have to accept addictive social media designs. We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. “It is us who decide our rules, not tech companies.” The EU will deploy its own verification scheme and demand that app stores, not platforms, police the gates. Children aged 13 to 15 would only be able to access platforms for an hour a day via ‘mini accounts’ set up through a parent or guardian’s social media account.
Reading For Pleasure
Whether you like romances, classic novels or even comics, reading for pleasure can boost your health - says new research from England's University of Cambridge, which linked reading with better mental health, greater empathy and a lower risk of developing dementia. The report analysed data from existing studies involving thousands of adults and children. One associated reading with a one third reduction in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. “Reading is a great way to support our brain health, develop important cognitive skills and boost our wellbeing,” said study lead Prof Barbara Sahakian. “It’s something we ought to be encouraging from an early age. But really, it’s never too late to start, and it can bring benefits throughout our lives and into old age.”
Iceland's Whaling
It’s one of the few countries that still permits commercial whaling - but probably not for much longer. Iceland’s government announced a review of the country’s whaling legislation would happen next February, potentially resulting in a permanent ban on the practice. Iceland, Japan, Norway and the Faroe Islands are the only countries that still allow commercial whaling, despite the 1986 global moratorium on hunting the animals.
The Only Whale Species That Rests in The Vertical Position: Sperm whales take 10 to 15 minute naps with their heads facing up toward the surface of the ocean, by sinking tail-first to a depth of roughly 8 meters (26 ft). But how do they do it?
Odyssey Fragment
A researcher in the Netherlands found an incredibly rare fragment of Homer's epic Odyssey that is over 1,700 years old sandwiched between the pages of a library book. Dr. Mark de Kreijidentified the tiny slip of paper while looking at a collection of early Christian manuscripts purchased by Utrecht University in the mid-20th century. Researchers were able to date the fragment back to about 300 AD, the university said, and only about 30 such fragments exist worldwide. The piece of paper would have come from a pocket edition of the complete poem, the university said, owned by someone living in Egypt's Faiyum oasis. RTV Utrecht described the fragment as about the size of a playing card.
No Fossil Fuel Ads
Amsterdam, Cardiff and Edinburgh are among the cities to have banned ads for polluting products. Now, Bristol in south west England, has joined the club by becoming the latest city to ban ads for fossil fuels - plus flights, SUVs and, in a UK-first, ultra-fast fashion. The ban applies only on council-run hoardings.
"Life’s short. Anything could happen, and it usually does, so there is no point in sitting around thinking about all the ifs, ands, and buts." Amy Winehouse
On This Day
21 September 1915: At an auction, Cecil Chubb buys the prehistoric monument Stonehenge "on a whim" for £6,600 as a gift for his wife, and later donates it to the British nation. Chubb's wife Mary was reportedly less than grateful for the romantic gesture, possibly because the price equated to as much as £680,000 ($771,000) in today's money. "It's said that Mary wanted Cecil to buy a set of curtains at the auction," says Stonehenge's curator, Heather Sebire. "And he came back with something rather different."
Today's Articles
Best Climate News of 2026: India’s coal generation has levelled off two decades earlier than expected. This is a big deal.
Why 10,000 Steps? This figure is entirely arbitrary and you don't actually have to walk that far to reap the benefits.
Mood Boosting Video
Grand Egyptian Museum: The world’s largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilisation.
