An eclectic global round up of positive news to brighten the day.
Genuine African Prince
Several years ago, the owners of an old, dusty painting walked into an art gallery in Vienna. They presented experts with a photograph of the work, claiming that it had been painted by Gustav Klimt, the famed Austrian Symbolist. A young gallery assistant dismissed them. But the owner, wanting to be sure, decided to investigate. Ebi Kohlbacher found the couple at a nearby coffee shop, and the gallery owner called the art historian Alfred Weidinger. The painting, which depicts an African prince - Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona, to be precise - turned out to be a genuine Klimt from 1897. Now, the piece is on display at an art fair in the Netherlands, where it’s expected to sell for over $16 million. In recent years, Klimt paintings have fetched astonishing sums at auctions. His long-lost Portrait of Miss Lieser (1917) sold for $32 million in 2024, while Lady With a Fan (1917–18) sold for more than $108 million in 2023.
Women's Sports Bars
Is 2025 the year of women’s sports bars? At the start of this year, there were six watering holes in the U.S. dedicated to playing women’s sports on the TVs - but that number is expected to quadruple within the coming months, NBC News reports. So far this year, 17 such venues have opened or plan to in the near future. The boom aligns with the recent uptick in interest in women’s college and professional sports, and many of the new bar owners cite Portland, Oregon’s Sports Bra (not a typo) as an inspiration.
US Paid Medical Leave
The Associated Press reports that more U.S. states are requiring paid medical leave, which has been shown to reduce stress and improve productivity. There is no federal law requiring paid leave in the U.S., only unpaid time off - and it doesn’t apply to everyone, like employees of small businesses - which makes the U.S. a “major outlier” amidst 95 percent of countries providing some form of paid leave for personal health. Separately, more states and cities also are requiring paid sick time, which helps people deal with shorter-term illnesses like the flu.
Two-Clawed Dino
A rare new species of two-clawed dinosaur has been discovered by in Mongolia's Gobi Desert. The species, named Duonychus tsogtbaatari, was unique within a group of dinosaurs called Therizinosaurs, which stood on their hind legs and usually had three claws. It was medium-sized, with an estimated weight of approximately 260kg (41 stone). Researchers believe the species' long, curved claws (about 12 inches long) and its ability to strongly flex them would have made it an efficient grasper of vegetation. Therizinosaurs were a group of either herbivorous or omnivorous theropod dinosaurs that lived in Asia and North America during the Cretaceous Period, which began 145 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago. UNESCO, the UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, calls the Mongolian Gobi Desert the largest dinosaur fossil reservoir in the world.
Object Lesson
UFO hotlines received dozens of calls after a glowing spiral appeared in the sky over Britain this week, captivating stargazers and social media users. But the "unusual glow" was in fact made by exhaust from a SpaceX rocket launched from Florida, said the BBC. "The rocket's frozen exhaust plume appears to be spinning in the atmosphere and reflecting the sunlight, causing it to look like a spiral in the sky," said a Met Office spokesperson.
Charging California
Between August 2024 and February 2025, California saw a 17 percent increase in the number of public and shared private electric vehicle chargers across the state. The state now boasts a network of more than 178,500 chargers, with 26,193 of them built just since August. This is important considering that starting next year, 35 percent of all new car models sold in the state must be zero-emission vehicles. California now has nearly 50 percent more EV chargers than gas nozzles.
Sweet Hereafter
A man who wanted to be buried in a Snickers-themed coffin got his nutty final wish. Paul Broome was known for his "quick wit and mischievous sense of humour", said The Argus, and his family made sure to honour his snack-themed coffin choice, even emblazoning the words "I'm nuts" on the side. The funeral procession passed his favourite café in Bognor Regis on England's south coast, where friends in tribute T-shirts gathered outside to clap.
“As we navigate this strange and anxious world, choosing joy becomes more than a personal act of resilience - it becomes a radical gesture of hope.” Zachary Kai
On This Day
27 March 47 BC: The legendary Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator, aided by her Roman lover Julius Caesar, was reinstated as co-ruler of Egypt (with her brother Ptolemy XIV) following a civil war with her brother Ptolemy XIII.
Today's Articles
Turning The Tables: Irish restaurant hilariously charges Ryanair boss for priority seating, extra leg room etc.
Benevolence: The foremost study on global wellbeing shows that believing in the kindness of others is key to happiness.
Signs & Symbols: $1 million reward if you can decode this 5,000 year old script from the Indus Valley.
Mood Boosting Video
Fun Frolics: The slow-mo baby goat video you didn’t know you needed, but do!