Sunny Saturday News

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What better way to start the weekend than with lots of good news nuggets?

Suspension bridge between the Eiffel Tower's east and west pillars, 60m above ground — Credit: La Tour Eiffel

New Perspective

Don’t look down... or do, if you want to see the Parisian skyline! This week, the Eiffel Tower reopened Le Vertige de la Tour, a suspension bridge touted as the tallest urban bridge in France. Suspended between the monument’s east and west pillars, the Vertige de la Tour bridge offers an aerial crossing of about 40 meters at nearly 60 meters (200 feet) above the ground. This net walkway is securely suspended by a network of cables and protected by multiple layers of netting comprising over 25,000 mesh panels and allows visitors to literally walk above the void while enjoying a spectacular view of the Iron Lady and Paris.

Land-Back

Across the western United States, the Land-Back movement is returning ancestral lands to Indigenous communities. California is moving to scale the shift, pledging to bring 7.5 million acres, about 7 percent of the state, under tribal stewardship. The policy formalises land return, access and co-management, linking restitution with biodiversity recovery, wildfire resilience and long-term ecosystem repair.

900-year-old sword covered in marine organisms — Credit: Yoav Bornstein | University of Haifa

Lucky Twice

In 2021, a man diving off the coast of Israel discovered a 900-year-old sword resting on the seafloor. The four-foot-long iron weapon was encrusted in marine organisms, but it appeared to be in good condition otherwise. It was a lucky find for the diver, Shlomi Katzin, who turned the sword over to officials. Now, Katzin’s luck has returned. He recently discovered another sword jutting out of the seabed, not far from where he found the first one. It’s slightly smaller, measuring just three feet long, but it appears to be roughly the same age. Researchers think both of Katzin’s swords may have been wielded by European knights during the Crusades.

US Balcony Solar

Virginia has become the second state to allow 'plug-and-play' balcony solar, after Utah lead the way. At least 28 more states have announced their own legislation to make these systems permissible. As utility bills climb and contribute to broader cost-of-living challenges, legislators see this cheap, portable, easy to install tech as an affordability tool.

US Wind

A massive wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts started providing clean energy to US homes this week following a failed attempt by the Trump administration to halt its construction. Vineyard Wind is the first wind farm to be completed during Donald Trump’s time in office. It was one of five offshore wind projects that the Trump administration halted for spurious “national security” reasons. Developers and states sued, and federal judges allowed all five to resume construction.

Africa Lights Up

More than $50 billion has now been committed to a plan to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030. In an age of foreign aid cut-backs, Mission 300 is one of the most important philanthropic initiatives in the world. Since its launch in January 2025, it’s already delivered electricity to 44 million people. “There is a pipeline of tens of millions more by the end of 2026,” reports Bloomberg.

“The fact that everybody in the world dreams every night ties all mankind together.” Jack Kerouac, Book of Dreams

On This Day

American journalist Henry Morton Stanley in 1872

21 March 1871: American journalist Henry Morton Stanley departed Bagamoyo, Tanzania, on a New York Herald-funded expedition to locate missing Scottish explorer Dr. David Livingstone. Facing severe illness, desertion, and dangers, Stanley successfully found a sick Livingstone in Ujiji on 10 November 1871, uttering the famous phrase: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?".