Tuesday's Positive News
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Some tasty bite-sized chunks of positive news to perk up the day.
Summer Gathering
While Europe’s still in the throes of summer heat, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the Danish city of Aalborg. Dozens of Santas, Mrs. Clauses and elves from around the world have descended for the Nordic nation’s annual World Santa Claus Congress, a colourful midsummer tradition for decades. The event, which marks its 70th anniversary next year, was created to entertain children, but became a popular gathering for Santas who appear in stores and shopping malls during the Yuletide season. The gathering offers a chance for professional Santas - not the real one, of course! - to swap stories, compare beards, sharpen their craft and compete in lighthearted contests months before anyone checks naughty-or-nice lists for the Christmas rush.
'Remarkable Achievement'
In a significant health win for the Central American nation, El Salvador has become the latest country to eliminate trachoma, the world’s leading cause of infectious blindness, as a public health problem. Describing the development as a “remarkable achievement”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was a “testament to strong political commitment, strategic investment, and community engagement”.
Record Breaker
Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, a coveted prop used in one of the most famous scenes in Hollywood history - Darth Vader’s shocking reveal as the young Jedi-in-training’s father - has just sold at auction for a record $3.75 million. Initially listed for bidding at $1 million, the famed weapon’s final price tag surpassed expectations - making it the most valued on-screen Star Wars prop ever sold at auction. “This is one of the most important surviving Star Wars artifacts in existence,” said Heritage Auctions. “Collectors understood that they were bidding on much more than a prop. They were competing for a genuine piece of modern mythology.”
True Calling
Before becoming a Catholic nun, Sister Stephanie Baliga was the sixth-fastest college freshman in the U.S., chasing a dream of going pro. When an injury her sophomore year forced her to press pause, though, she realized her true calling wasn’t running but instead devoting everything to God. For the past 15 years, Baliga has used her athleticism to help raise over $2.6 million for the Mission of Our Lady of Angels, or MOLA, by running the Chicago Marathon. MOLA’s food pantry serves hundreds of local families each week, regardless of faith or creed. “It totally changed the way I live my life. Our neighborhood has been very, very volatile in every possible way, so the fact that something is stable is a huge gift to people in this neighborhood.”
'Truly Stratospheric'
For the first time ever, solar power provided a quarter of the European Union’s electricity over an entire month, fresh analysis shows. Solar was the bloc’s largest single source of power in June, ahead of nuclear (21%), gas (15%), wind (14%) and hydro (12%), as coal generated just 8%, according to data from the energy thinktank Ember. “Solar’s rise has been truly stratospheric, beating prediction after prediction,” said Ember.
New Monkey Species
An elusive species of monkey that has evaded science for centuries has been found in the remote rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The monkey, which is black with distinctive orange face patches, is only the fifth new primate species identified in Africa in the last 75 years. It was discovered in Lomami National Park, where conservationists first reported seeing the animal back in 2008, but did not get sufficient evidence, sparking further missions to track it down. Such efforts have now borne fruit with new genetic, photographic and acoustic analyses confirming the monkey is new to science. The species has been named Colobus congoensis.
Finally
The UK has become the latest nation to formally ratify a global treaty to protect the high seas.
Signed by 84 countries in 2023, the global ocean treaty - also known as the high seas treaty - gives governments a legal framework to protect waters that lie outside of their national boundaries. Currently only 1 percent of international waters are protected. “The UK’s ratification of the high seas treaty, joining more than 90 countries that have now formally adopted the agreement, is a major step forward for ocean protection,” said Dr Judith Brown from the Blue Marine Foundation.
"True heroism is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost." Arthur Ashe
On This Day
21 July 1853: The New York State Legislature authorized the creation of Central Park. The state set aside over 750 acres of rocky, swampy land in the center of Manhattan. Today, the park spans 843 acres and is managed by the Central Park Conservancy.
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