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Good News Thursday

Ensuring the day gets off to a bright start with an upbeat collection of positive news stories.

That Christmas

As we hurtle towards Mariah Carey's most lucrative holiday, families all over the world will be pressing play on Christmas films such as Love Actually to get themselves into the festive spirit. The 2003 movie was one of a string of hits from writer-director Richard Curtis which dominated the box office at the turn of the millennium, alongside Notting Hill, and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Curtis is returning to the Christmas theme for his latest film, but this time around he has moved away from the traditional romcom and taken on his first animated project. The film-maker has described working on animation as "a huge treat and revelation for me", adding that the "whole process is so different from the other movies I’ve worked on". That Christmas will be released on Netflix on 4 December.

Marble bust of John Gordon, an 18th-century landowner — Credit: Highland Council

Windfall

Around 1930, a Scottish town council bought a marble bust for £5. Though the 18th-century artwork was created by the celebrated French sculptor Edmé Bouchardon, its importance was forgotten: In 1998, the bust was being used as a doorstop inside a shed. Now, the piece, known as the Bouchardon Bust, could sell for £2.5 million (nearly $3.2 million). The proceeds would go to Invergordon, the small town in northern Scotland that purchased it. That would be entirely appropriate as the bust depicts John Gordon, an 18th-century local landowner thought to be the founder of the town of Invergordon.

Dark Wolf Nebula

Astronomers have unveiled an image of a giant cloud of space gas and dust that creates the illusion of a wolf-like silhouette against a colourful cosmic backdrop. Nicknamed the Dark Wolf Nebula, the cloud is in the Scorpius constellation near the middle of the Milky Way, around 5,300 light-years from Earth. This image takes up an area in the sky equivalent to four full moons. Some people viewing the image might even think it looks like a werewolf, with paws reaching out. Dark nebulae are cold clouds of cosmic dust, so dense that they obscure the light of stars and other objects behind them.

Omar Nok boarding a train — Credit: Omar Nok

Adventure Called…

… and Omar Nok answered in an epic way. This year, the 30-year-old decided to trek from Cairo to Tokyo with one rule: no planes. Instead, he traveled by camel, cargo ship, train, ferry, foot, and more to cover 28,700 miles in 275 days. Nok’s takeaway from the trip? “There are good people everywhere. It doesn’t matter the country, race, religion. We as humans, we have more in common than we have differences.”

Inspiring testament to perseverance - Octogenarian Woman's Annual 600 Mile Adventure - with her horse and dog that began more than five decades ago.

Child Marriage

Though it must still be signed into law by its president, Colombia just voted to change a law that allowed minors as young as 14 to get married with parental consent. The new law would raise the minimum age to marry to 18 years old - outlawing child marriage in the country. Colombia follows Sierra Leone, which also banned child marriage earlier this year.

Upstart Search Engine

It’s no secret that Google has had a monopoly on the internet as everyone’s favourite search engine for the better part of two decades. That said, new data privacy laws and the emergence of Generative AI capabilities have given search engines like Ecosia and Qwant an opportunity to steal the throne. The Berlin-based company Ecosia (which donates its profits to tree planting) and its Paris-based competitor Qwant have announced that they will team up to develop an index of the web, though they acknowledge that competing with Google will be no easy task. Is it realistic to think Google’s crown could ever be snatched?

“Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.” Tom Stoppard

On This Day

The first crewed hot-air balloon flight, 1783

21 November 1783: The first crewed hot-air balloon flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, marquis d'Arlandes, traveling from the Château de la Muette across the Bois de Boulogne on the edge of Paris in a balloon made by Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier.